


Turnadette Prompts 😊😊

by miss_ute



Category: Call the Midwife
Genre: F/M, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:01:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 20,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26139307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miss_ute/pseuds/miss_ute
Summary: You send me a prompt - I try my best  😅🤣😊
Relationships: Bernadette | Shelagh Turner & Patrick Turner, Bernadette | Shelagh Turner/Patrick Turner
Comments: 110
Kudos: 68





	1. taking care of the other when sick or injured

**shine-on-down asked for: taking care of the other when sick or injured...well, all I can say is...I hope you'll like it** 😅😊

* * *

''Oh, come on Patrick, stop acting like an old lady and drink the damn thing!’’ Fred Buckle, one of Patrick’s oldest friends, yelled as loudly as he could as he pushed another tequila shot towards him. It was Saturday night and the boys had somehow managed to convince Patrick to join them for a drink in a very crowded pub. A quiet drink which had turned into a proper night out in less than half an hour.

‘’No, no, no.’’ Patrick tried to protest, no matter, he knew there was no use. What in the world possessed him to say yes to all of this? He could have been already sleeping or simply enjoying his quiet evening in front of the telly. He was too old for this shit!

‘’Yes, yes, YES!!’’ Tom and Chris yelled in unison, pulling and holding his arm down on the bar, so Fred could sprinkle some salt on it. ‘’Come on, Turner!! DRINK!’’ Tom shouted and before they knew it, the whole pub looked in their direction and started to shout with them, ‘’DRINK! DRINK! DRINK! DRINK!’’

‘’Oh, for god’s sake…’’ Patrick mumbled under his breath, no matter no one could hear him. ‘’OKAY, OKAY!!’’ he gave in, licked the salt on his hand, slammed down a shot of horrendously tasting tequila and let Tom shove a lime wedge into his mouth.

‘’And that’s how you do it!’’ Tom yelled and hit him on his back, making the whole pub cheer in excitement.

‘’We’ll be right back!’’ Chris said and pulled Tom with him towards a small stage by the door. A little band was playing songs Patrick had never heard in his life, but made the whole crowd go wild.

‘’See? That wasn’t that hard, was it?’’ Fred sat next to Patrick, when the young men got out of their sight.

‘’Oh, yes it was.’’ Patrick made a face and ordered some water.

‘’Turner, what’s your problem? It’s Saturday! You are single and young and…’’

‘’Young?’’ Patrick chuckled and thankfully took a bottle of water from the bartender. ‘’I don’t know if you can call 39 young, Fred.’’

‘’Oh, shut up!!’’ Fred got annoyed and took a sip of his beer. ‘’Come on, lighten up! Look around you!’’ he twisted his whole body around on the barstool. ‘’This place is filled with so much beauty! Look! Look!’’ He hit Patrick on his shoulder, ‘’There are so many women in here tonight! All you have to do is pick one and make a move.’’

‘’Fred…’’ Patrick sighed. He loved his best mate, but his need to find him someone was getting more and more annoying. Ever since Patrick had broken up with his long-term girlfriend Marianne a couple of months ago, Fred had been on his case.

‘’No, no, listen!’’ Fred looked over at his friend. ‘’There is a blond one, look…where are you going?’’ He shot Patrick almost an unfriendly gaze, when he stood up. He was so stubborn sometimes! All Fred wanted was for his friend to be happy. Ever since the breakup, all Patrick had done was work and spent his free days locked in his flat. To be completely honest with himself, Fred had started to get worried about him.

‘’To the loo,” Patrick lied and took the water bottle in his hand. ‘’May I?’’

‘’Okay. But be quick. Or I’ll send Tom and Chris after you.’’

‘’Yes, yes. I’ll be right back.’’ Patrick mumbled and started making his way through the dancing crowd, who appeared to be having the time of their life. And Patrick could not blame them. It wasn’t their fault he was feeling this way. Alone and simply tired. Tired of people telling him he should move on. Tired of them repeating over and over how he should forget about what Marianne had done to him. For god’s sake! She’d cheated on him with his cousin! HIS COUSIN! There was no quick way to simply forget and forgive the whole thing.

‘’Excuse me, ex-...’’ he tried to make his way, but there was no use. The pub was packed and for a few minutes he simply stood there. He was stuck between a couple of drunk young women who were shamelessly grinding all over him. It took him a while but somehow he managed to get to the other side. He had told Fred he was going to the toilet, but Patrick pulled on the back door and found himself in the empty back alley of the pub.

‘’Finally!’’ Patrick closed the door behind him, rested his back against the cold brick wall and simply let the fresh air fill his lungs. Taking a few deep breaths, he enjoyed the silence for a few moments, before he placed a water bottle on the floor and reached into his inner pocket. He knew he shouldn’t, but smoking helped him calm down and gather his thoughts. If he was about to return back into a madhouse in a couple of minutes, he knew he more than needed one.

‘’Oh, for god’s sake.’’ He signed with a cigarette already in his mouth, when he discovered he did not have a lighter on him. ‘’Why, God, why?’’ He looked up into the stary night and wished he was at home, wearing his stupid striped PJ’s with his old black labrador Tim, peacefully sleeping by his feet. Putting the ciggy back into the box and into the pocket, he surrendered to fate and started to make his way back inside. But when he pushed on the door, he could feel something collided with it.

‘’Oh, shiiit! Oh, god, that hurt! Ouch!’’ Was all he heard before a young woman stumbled out of the pub, clutching to her nose.

‘’Oh, god, I’m so sorry! I didn’t see you there.’’ Patrick panicked and quickly kneeled down next to her as she sat herself on a little step. ‘’I really am sorry. Are you alright?''’

‘’I don’t know, how does it look?’’ She cut his apologies, looked up and made him shut his mouth in an instant.

‘’That bad, hmm?’’ she moaned as he kept staring at her with his mouth hanging open. One of her spectacle lenses was cracked. Half of her face was covered with blood dripping from her nose, but oh, my god! She was absolutely breath-taking!

‘’Amm…’’ was all that came out of Patrick’s mouth. He just kept looking at her like a lunatic, not able to say a word.

‘’What?’’ she frowned her eyebrows, not quite understanding what was happening. All she wanted was to have a quick smoke without her friends finding out and before she knew it a hard surface hit her face, making her feel like she was dying.

‘’Amm…yo-you’re bleeding.’’ Was the only thing Patrick managed to mumble as he pointed his finger to her face and her dress.

‘’What?!?’’ the young woman looked down and could see a splash of blood on her dress. ‘’Oh, god; oh, gooood!’’

‘’No, no…it’s alright! I’ll fix it.’’ Patrick quickly said as he saw she was starting to panic.

‘’How!?’’

‘’Just…let me take care of you, hmm?’’

‘’But you…’’

‘’May I?’’ He took a step closer and waited for her to give him permission to touch her.

‘’Alright.’’ She gave in and let him do what he was about to do.

Without saying another word, Patrick gently removed her glasses and took her face into his warm palms. As he quietly examined her nose, she got the chance to look at him properly. He was a little older than her, dark eyes, dark hair all out of place and a five o’clock stubble covering his handsome face. Quite dashing to be honest, she thought to herself.

‘’I don’t think it’s broken.’’ He said after a few moments.

‘’Are you sure?’’

‘’Yes…’’ he gazed up from her nose and looked directly into her bright eyes. She really was beautiful, he thought to himself as they simply stood and stared at each other. His palms were still resting on each side of her head, gently cradling her injured face, somehow making her feel safe and at ease. He was a complete stranger, but she had to admit that his intense gaze was starting to make her feel all hot inside. In the best possible way, that is. Was that smirk she could see on his lips? He did have very kissable lips…oh, god! what was she thinking!?

‘’Just a second…’’ he let go of her face and bent down to get his water bottle. Pulling a handkerchief from his suit pocket, he wet it and quietly asked for her permission.

‘’Aaa…’’ the young woman hissed when he pressed the soft material against her skin and started wiping the blood off.

‘’Sorry…’’ Patrick quickly stopped with what he was doing, afraid his stupid ass had put her in even more pain than she already was.

‘’It just…well, hurts.’’ She giggled and for a second Patrick thought he was going to die. His heart literally stopped beating as her soft giggles filled his ears. And she definitely noticed the change in the way he was looking at her.

‘’Do you have a tampon?’’ he blabbered when he saw she was starting to blush and let go of her face, taking a step backward. Too afraid of the feelings that started to simmer inside of him.

‘’Excuse me?’’ she got confused all of a sudden.

‘’Amm, a tampon? Do you have it?’’ he repeated his question. ‘’For your nose, I mean. I need to stop the bleeding.’’

‘’OH! Yes! Yes, I do!’’ She opened her little black purse and started to look for what he asked, ‘’Here.’’ She handed him a small package, which he reached for and blushed in the next second as their fingers brushed, sending a tingling sensation all over his body. Was this normal? Was he supposed to be feeling like this? And what was THIS!? He had no idea, all he knew was he liked it. A lot.

‘’T-thanks.’’ he replied. ‘’This is going to sting a little but I promise I’ll try to do it as gentle and as quickly as I’m able,” he warned her. The only thing she did was nod.

‘’All done.’’

‘’Oh, already?’’

‘’Yes.’’ Patrick smiled, seeing she wasn’t really mad at him. ‘’Why don’t you sit down. It might take a while.’’ He pointed to the step and helped her sit down, before sitting next to her.

‘’I’m really sorry for all of this.’’

‘’It’s okay.’’ She smiled at him ‘’You’ve made it better, so you’re forgiven.’’

‘’How about those?’’ he pointed to her right hand which held her black roundly shaped glasses.

‘’Oh, don’t worry about it. I’ve been dying for an excuse to get new ones.’’

‘’Well, then. I’m happy I’ve helped.’’ He joked, and at his luck she laughed.

‘’Do you by any chance have a cigarette?’’ she asked next. Trying to find something to concentrate on except the heat of the side of his thigh resting next to hers.

‘’Actually, I do, but no lighter.’’

‘’I have it.’’

‘’Great.’’ He was about to pull the package out of his pocket, when the door behind them widely opened, making them stand up.

‘’Barbara, I’ve found her!’’ a blond girl shouted. ‘’Oh, my god! What happened to you?!?’’ She covered her mouth with her hand when she saw what state her friend’s face was in. ‘’What did you do to her!’’ she then turned to look at Patrick with anger in her eyes.

‘’I…’’

‘’Trixie, it’s nothing, I…’’

‘’WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER, YOU BASTARD!?’’ Trixie stepped in front of her in an attempt to protect her injured friend.

‘’I-I…nothing! It was an accident! I didn’t see her and…’’ Patrick tried to defend himself but it was no use. This Trixie person shoved him away and kept calling him names.

‘’Trixie, stop it! You’ll hurt him!’’

‘’I’ll do more than hurt him!’’ Trixie raised her voice, ‘’Sweetie, are you okay!?’’

‘’She’s fin-…’’ Patrick tried again but he quickly wished he hadn’t opened his mouth as the blond girl took a step closer. ‘’Was I talking to you??!? Was I?’’

‘’No, but…’’

‘’So, zip it, before I call the police!’

‘’No, no, no. Trixie, listen to me. It was just an ac-…’’

‘’Trixie, what’s going…oh, my goooood!’’ Another young woman stepped out of the pub and went into a state of shock when she saw her friend’s dress covered in blood. ‘’Wha…?’’

‘’He hurt her!’’ Trixie pointed in Patrick’s direction who at this point had no idea how in the world he was going to get out of this big misunderstanding.

‘’Yo-you pig!’’ the brunette yelled, walking back into the pub, calling another name ‘’Phyllis!!! We have a problem!’’

‘’Oh, for god’s sake.’’ Patrick’s new friend exhaled, well aware whole bloody hell was about to break loose any second now.

‘’Barbara, stop pushing! What’s going on!’’ an older woman came walking out with no idea what was going on.

‘’Come on, Phyllis, use your karate moves on him. He hurt Sh-…’’

‘’Okay, stop it! He didn’t do anything to me!’’ The young woman stepped in front of Patrick's body, trying her best to put an end to this madness.

‘’But…’’ Trixie tried to protest, but her friend quickly started to explain what actually had happened between her and the man, who in about 3 seconds was going to be kicked by Phyllis.

‘’Ohhhh.’’ the three women said in one voice, when her friend was done talking.

‘’Yes, oh.’’

‘’In that case, I’m sorry I’ve slapped you.’’ Trixie smiled, still not happy about that fact her friend’s nostril was stuffed with a tampon.

‘’That’s okay.’’ Patrick’s breathing slowly returned back to normal.

‘’Yes, we are sorry.’’ Barbara apologized and pushed Phyllis back indoors, quickly following her.

‘’Coming?’’ Trixie turned to her friend.

‘’I’ll be right there.’’

‘’Alright.’’ Trixie nodded and was about to go into the pub when she once again turned to Patrick, ‘’Again, I’m sorry.’’

‘’It’s fine, really.’’ Patrick insisted. It was nice to see how the trio had stuck together. They had tried their best to protect their friend from him, when they had thought he had done something bad to her.

‘’I’m so sorry about all of this. They…I don’t know what they were thinking, just...I’m sorry.’’ The young woman turned around to face him. She started to apologize, the second after Trixie closed the door behind her, leaving the two of them all alone again.

‘’Listen, I understand and it’s fine.’’

‘’Are you certain?’’

‘’Completely.’’

‘’Good.’’ She smiled at him, making him all giddy inside. ‘’Now…about that cigarette…’’

‘’Yes, sure.’’ Patrick laughed as they both sat down on the step again. ‘’Mind if we share?’’ he playfully asked when he saw he had only one left.

‘’No, not at all.’’ She chuckled and handed him a lighter, which she was still holding in her hand from earlier. Taking it from her, Patrick placed a cigarette between his lips and finally lit it. After taking a long puff himself, he was about to hand it to her when he stopped, looked at her and simply said, ‘’I don’t even know your name.’’

She gave him one the sweetest smiles he had ever seen before replying, ‘’Shelagh.’’

And all he said back was, ‘’Patrick.’’


	2. "I called you at 2am because I need you"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "I called you at 2am because I need you" for anon! 🤗 Enjoy!

‘’Are you sure you don’t want to join us?’’ Trixie asked as she was putting her winter coat on in the middle of the hall.

‘’Quite sure.’’ Shelagh called from the living room, cosily wrapped in a warm fluffy blanket in the middle of a big couch, with a mug of hot chocolate resting on her lap. 

‘’Shelagh…’’ Trixie walked into the room all ready to leave, but giving it one more try. It was Friday evening and seeing her best friend wasting it watching the telly all by herself, didn’t sit well with her. Not when most of their girlfriends were spending the night at the Christmas market in the city centre. ‘’Shelagh!’’

‘’What?’’ Shelagh finally looked away from the screen. ‘’Why are you back? Did you forget something?’’

‘’Oh, god.’’ Trixie gave in. ‘’Bye, Shelagh!’’ she turned on her feet and left. There really was no point in nagging her anymore.

‘’BYE!’’ Shelagh yelled after her. This was her first night not working a night shift at the pub in the last 3 weeks, and there was no way she was going to spend it outside, freezing to her bones. She adored all of her friends but all she wanted tonight was to have some alone time, eat some junk food, catch up with her favourite series, have a hot bath and go to bed before midnight. That was it. But no matter how much Shelagh had planned, almost nothing on her wishlist came true. Because in the next 10 minutes, she was sound asleep on the couch, dead to the outside world.

All until the sound of her ringing phone woke her up a few hours later. Opening her eyes, she had no idea where she was or what was the time. Almost falling off the couch she reached for her phone, and without even checking the caller ID, swiped her finger over to the green dot on the screen.

‘’Y-yes?’’

‘’Heeeelllloooo, Shelaghhhh.’’ A familiar voice filled her ear in the next second, but it took a familiar giggle for her to realize who was actually on the other side. ‘’Patrick?’’

‘’Yes, it’s me!!’’ her neighbour and everlasting crush proudly announced, and made Shelagh instantly sat up straight. They’d been friends from the moment he had moved into the flat opposite hers six months ago. And no matter Trixie had been nagging her to simply get herself together and ask him out for a drink, Shelagh had been too cowardly to do so. He was a doctor, a very successful doctor…and nice…and handsome…and his hands…and she was a middle-aged woman making her living working behind the bar. How could someone like Dr Patrick Turner be even slightly interested in her? They were friends, and she didn’t want to do anything which could compromise that.

‘’Wh-what’s going on? What’s the time?’’

‘’It’s 2 a.m., and I’m calling because I neeeeeeed you!’’

‘’What?!’’ no matter it was dark and no one could see her, Shelagh knew she was blushing. And not only that, she could feel her whole body go hot. Need her? Why would  _ he _ need  _ her _ ? In what way? Was this a booty call in the middle of the night or was she just having one of her dreams again?

‘’Mannion, are yoooou still thereeee??’’ his charming voice brought her back to reality.

‘’Yes, yes…ammm…sorry! Yes! What’s going on?’’

‘’You see…’’ he started to explain when his own hiccup made him laugh and forget what he wanted to say to her.

‘’Patrick, where are?’’ Shelagh worriedly asked, when he wouldn’t stop laughing. ‘’What’s going on?’’ he didn’t sound like he was in any pain or in a position he would need her help. Unless… ‘’Are you drunk?’’

‘’Just a tiny bit, I suppose. Maybe…yes…I am.’’ He admitted.

‘’Okay…where are you?’’ she tried again, starting to get worried about him.

‘’In front of your door.’’ He playfully answered and it took only a few seconds for Shelagh to unlock and open her front door, only to find out he wasn’t lying. Dr Patrick Turner was barely standing in front of her, slightly swaying from one side to another.

‘’Shelagh!!’’ his voice went a pitch higher when he saw her in front of her. She looked even more beautiful, if that was even possible. ‘’I was just on the phone with you!’’ he added and pointed to his phone, which was still resting against his left ear.

‘’I know…’’ Shelagh chuckled and pulled on his arm, took his phone away from him and ended the call. ‘’Patrick, what’s going on?’’ if she thought he looked absolutely breathtaking in his suits, she had to mentally stop herself from pulling him down for a kiss. When she saw how hot he looked in his half-buttoned winter coat and with his stupid scarf loosely hanging around his neck, looking at her with that half grin of his. She didn’t even dare to think about his hair, which had a few half-melted snowflakes in it.

‘’I can’t get into my flat.’’ He finally explained and leaned on her doorframe.

‘’W-why not?’’ Shelagh stuttered when a hint of his aftershave hit her nostrils.

‘’My key doesn’t work.’’ He pulled a key out of his pocket and showed it to her.

‘’That’s because, that’s your car key, Patrick.’’ Shelagh could not help but giggle. He was absolutely adorable.

‘’Whaat?!’’ Patrick looked at the key he was holding. ‘’Oh, crap! See! This is the reason I need you in my life! You’re smart and suuuper nice and, and…a-and you so beautiful!’’

‘’What?!’’ Shelagh froze in place.

‘’Sooo, sooo, beautiful!! B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L! But not like normal beautiful, you are…you are abnormally BEAUTIFUL!’’ he started to yell, his voice carrying through the entire apartment building. ‘’THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOM-…’’ he wanted to yell even more, when Shelagh’s hand pulled him into her flat.

‘’For god’s sake, lower your voice.’’ The last thing Shelagh wanted was a call from her landlord in the morning.

‘’And strooong!’’ Patrick giggled when his back hit the wall with force.

Closing the door behind them, Shelagh turned to him and just stared at him. What was happening? Was he mocking her? Or was there any truth in his words?

‘’What?’’ he asked when he saw the way she was looking at him. She looked so cute, wearing one of her old t-shirts and blue fluffy PJ’s bottoms.

‘’What are you saying exactly?’’ she crossed her hands on her chest, getting more and more annoyed with him. To be completely honest with herself, she could feel a set of tears pricking at the back of her eyes. Did he know she had a massive crush on him?

‘’Shelagh…’’ he got serious all of a sudden. Or at least as serious he could get in his state.

‘’Don’t…’’ she took a step backward when he tried to take her hand in his.

‘’Oh, god…’’ Patrick exhaled when he realized what an idiot he was being. He had no right to be here. She was too good for him. There was no chance in hell, she would see him the same way he saw her. They were friends, and nothing more. He had told Fred it was a bad idea to pretend he had lost his keys and ask her to spend the night on her couch, so he could make her breakfast in the morning as a thank you and maybe, just maybe finally tell her the truth. That he was freaking in love with her from the first moment he had met her! ‘’I’m sorry. I just…I’ll go.’’

‘’No…’’ she stepped in front of him, blocking his path ‘’…wait.’’

‘’Yes?’’ Patrick took a deep breath and silently waited for her to say something.

Looking up at him through her eyelashes, Shelagh knew there was a slight blush creeping on her cheeks but she didn’t care. He might be drunk but she needed to know what he meant by calling her beautiful.

‘’Why did you call me beautiful?’’ she forced the words out of her mouth.

‘’Because you are.’’ He simply replied with a hint of joy in his voice.

‘’What?’’ she finally looked at him properly. And all she could see was the biggest grin written all over his stupid handsome face.

‘’I think you are amazing,  _ Shelagh. _ ’’ He took a step closer to her. This was it, he thought to himself. ‘’And I’ve been thinking that for the last six months.’’

‘’But…I-I-…what?’’ was her mind toying with her or did he actually just tell her he fancied her?

‘’Look, to tell you the truth, I’d kiss you right now, right here if it was on me.’’ He boldly said, ‘’But I’m a little drunk and I don’t want our first kiss to happen under these conditions. So, I’ll just go…’’ 

‘’Come here!’’ Shelagh grabbed him by his collar and finally,  _ finally, _ pulled him down for a kiss. And what a kiss it was! Filled with six months of desperation and sexual oppression from both sides.

As their kiss deepened, Patrick’s fingers found their way under her t-shirt, but caught her totally unprepared for his cold skin meeting her warm one. Jumping away from his hug, she forced him to let go of her and with that he lost his balance, causing him to stumble and ending up on the floor.

‘’Oh, god! I’m so sorry! Are you okay??’’ she quickly kneeled down next to him, wanting to make sure he was alright.

‘’Just tickety boo and marvellous.’’ Was the only thing he said before they both burst into a set of laughter.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> beta: weshallc! Thank you! 😊😊


	3. Fake dating AU, part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ''Fake dating AU'' for anon 🤗  
> this is part 1 of 2

‘’Stop pushing!’’ Shelagh almost barked over her shoulder as her friend and colleague Trixie kept pushing her down the school hall towards the staff room.

‘’Come on, you have to ask him!’’

‘’Are you crazy!? He’ll think I’ve lost my mind!’’ Shelagh suddenly stopped and turned around to face her friend. ‘’Trixie, I can’t!’’

‘’You can, because you kind of have to, sweetie.’’ Trixie crossed her hands on her chest and kept smiling. ‘’Or would you prefer telling your family you’ve made the whole thing up?’’

‘’No, but…’’ Shelagh nervously shifted her weight from one leg to the other.

‘’No buts! Listen, either you go and ask him, or I’ll do it for you,’’ Trixie told her. 

When Shelagh still refused to move from the spot she was standing on, Trixie started to move past her. ‘’Wait, wait, wait!’’ Shelagh ran in front of her and stopped her. ‘’Okay, okay…I’ll do it,’’ she gave in and started walking away. 

‘’Good luck!’’ Trixie laughed and kept her eyes on Shelagh until she reached the staff room door, wanting to make sure she wasn’t about to chicken out on the whole thing.

**xXx**

It was the last Friday before Christmas Break and Shelagh knew Trixie was right. She could be bold and at least try to get out of the mess she had made, or spend her Christmas listening to her family once again nagging her about her love life.

Taking a deep breath, Shelagh pushed on a white door and quietly popped her head into an almost empty staff room. She could see Professor Miller sitting behind the table, quietly grading some History test papers; the good old PE Professor Buckle was having one of his morning naps in the blue armchair by the twinkling Christmas tree in the corner of the room and then there was  _ him – _ Professor Patrick Turner.

He was at the back of the room in the little kitchen, making himself a cup of tea like he always did just after his morning classes. She could only see the back of him, but she could not deny that the sight of him thrilled her more than it was considered appropriate inside the school walls.

‘’This is so stupid.’’ She whispered to herself before making her way towards him. He was wearing one of his light grey Oxford suits that made him look incredibly handsome and totally irresistible at the same time. Shelagh considered herself as a woman of great strength and integrity who could always tell right from wrong, but everything turned into dust when he looked at her with that stupid grin of his.

‘’Professor Mannion!’’ he turned around just when she reached him.

‘’Hi.’’ She nervously smiled at him. Why, oh, why does he have to be so good looking!? And nice and polite and ahhhhhhhhhhh….

‘’Is there anything I can do for you??’’ he asked when she just kept staring at him, not saying another word.

‘’Yes, no…I mean…’’

‘’Is everything alright?’’ He took a sip of his tea.

‘’What are you doing for Christmas!?!?’’ Shelagh blabbered, surprising herself and him with her direct question. She really had no idea how to do this.

‘’Amm, well…nothing special, really.’’ He tilted his head to the side and looked at her with a wicked interest. He had always liked her, which wasn’t hard considering she was intelligent, well-spoken, generous and had this unbelievable ability to build caring relationships with students. Everybody adored her - her students, their parents and co-workers. Plus, she was absolutely breath-taking beautiful. ‘’I’ve had Tim for Easter, so I’m on my own for Christmas. You?’’

‘’I’m off to Aberdeen. A family thing.’’ She quickly replied.

‘’Well, that’s nice.’’ Patrick smiled at her, but could see there was something more to all of this. She was nervous, and if there was one thing Shelagh Mannion wasn’t afraid of, was speaking her mind up.

‘’Yeah, yeah, it is.’’ She weakly smiled back at him, still not having a clue how to carry on with the whole thing. He would surely think she had lost her mind! Oh, the shame! Why, oh, why did she have to lie to her family!?

‘’Okay…’’ Patrick rested his mug on the counter behind him ‘’…what’s going on, Shelagh?’’

_ Shelagh.  _ He almost never called by her first name, but when he did, Shelagh could literally feel falling for him even harder.

‘’Shelagh, are you alright?’’ he tried again, when he started to get a little worried about her.

‘’Come here…’’ she grabbed him by his elbow and pushed him a little deeper into the kitchen, so no one could hear what she was about to say.

‘’Wha-…?’’ Patrick wanted to ask but she beat him to it. ‘’Okay, here’s the thing. I kind of need you to come to Aberdeen with me for Christmas.’’

‘’Excuse me?’’ he half chuckled half laughed, but quickly stopped when he saw she was being absolutely serious.

‘’Do you remember that staff picnic just before the Summer break?’’ she started to explain, hoping she would make any sense, any sense at all.

‘’Yes?’’

‘’We took a group photo? A few of them, actually.’’

‘’Yes, so?’’ he had no idea what could taking a group photo had to do with him going to Scotland for the holidays.

‘’Well,…Trixie’s posted some of them on her Instagram.’’

‘’And…?’’

‘’My sister saw them, made a comment about a handsome chap having his arms around her baby sister, one thing led to another and I’ve kind of told my family we are dating!’’

_ Silence _ .

Deadly silence was all Shelagh got. He just stared at her with his eyes wide open, trying to figure out if she was being serious or not. After almost two minutes of not saying a thing, she was just about to say something when he finally responded.

‘’So, your sister thinks I’m handsome, hmmm?’’ he grinned, making her burst in a set of laughter the next moment.

‘’Shut up!’’ Shelagh playfully slapped his shoulder. ‘’Look, I know the whole thing is crazy but they’ve just kept nagging and nagging about me turning 35 and not having a man in my life! You have to understand, my sister has four children and I have a goldfish who died 2 years ago. Which I haven’t even told them about, because I’m so sick and tired of them…’’

‘’Yes,’’ his voice cut her long explanation.

‘’What?’’

‘’Yes.’’ Patrick repeated himself.

‘’Yes, what?’’ Shelagh wasn’t quite sure she was hearing right. Was he kidding, or was he crazy enough to actually do it.

‘’Yes, I’ll go with you.’’ He leaned his body on the counter behind him and gave her the cheekiest smile she had ever seen.

‘’Are you sure?’’

‘’Let’s see. We have a lovely family Christmas lunch with a beautiful woman on one side and spending my Christmas alone as a dog eating TV dinner on the other. I don’t think it’s that hard, do you?’’

‘’Well, when you put it like that.’’ Shelagh smiled, but caught herself blushing by the word beautiful. Did he really think she was beautiful?

‘’So, it’s a deal.’’ He pulled himself straight and reached for his tea, which was by this time already cold.

‘’But my family…’’ she tried to explain that it wasn’t going to be easy when he simply ignored her.

‘’When do we leave?’’

‘’Amm…the day before Christmas, but...’’

‘’Alright. I’ll pick you up at your place around what, eight? Nine?’’

‘’N-Nine?’’

‘’Nine it is.’’ He smiled, drank his tea, put his empty mug into the dishwasher and walked out of the staff room without saying another word to her. He left her standing there completely speechless until the school bell forced her to go and gave the last lecture of the year.

  
  



	4. I’m scared but won’t admit it so you take my hand

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ''I’m scared but won’t admit it so you take my hand'' for anon...I think 😂😂

‘’Come on! We have to go on that before we leave!’’ Trixie tried to say with her mouth full of candy floss as she pointed to the biggest roller coaster in the whole amusement park. ‘’This might be the last thing we do together!’’ It was the end of Summer vacation and the group was moving all around the country to continue with their studies at different colleges in a few days, so Trixie, Chris, Barbara, Tom, Shelagh and Patrick had decided to spend the last free Friday evening at the local amusement park.

‘’Ohh, Trix, don’t say that!’’ Barbara almost started to cry. The thought of this being the last time she would be with all of her high school friends was simply too much for her.

‘’Oh, don’t worry Barbara, we’ll stay in contact!’’ Shelagh tried to comfort her. ‘’We’ll text and video call. We even have a group chat!’’

‘’Yeah, Barbara.’’ Patrick chipped in, ‘’If we want to stay in contact, I’m sure we can figure something out.’’

‘’Promise?’’ Barbara ran her teary eyes over her friends.

‘’We promise!’’ the five of them replied back in once voice.

‘’Okay.’’ Barbara gave them a weak smile.

‘’Now, how about that roller coaster, hmm?!’’ Trixie once again tried her luck.

‘’Yeah, sure, I’m in!’’ Chris took his girlfriend’s hand in his and tightly squeezed it.

‘’YES!’’ Tom, Barbara and Shelagh agreed.

‘’Didn’t we say, we’d go on a carousel before leaving?’’ Patrick almost whispered, hoping at least one of his friends would agree with him. He loved amusement parks, all the games and food, but the thought of going on that stupid roller coaster was something he was dreading from the minute they had arrived.

‘’Oh, come on Turner! Those are for babies and grannies!’’ Chris teased.

‘’Yeah, Turner! What kind of a doctor are you going to be, if you are afraid of some action!!‘’ Tom smirked. ‘’Come on! We should get in line!’’ he added. He took Barbara’s hand and pulled her towards the roller coaster’s long queue.

With Chris and Trixie walking just behind them, Patrick stayed glued to the spot he was standing on. But only until  _ her  _ voice made him turn around.

‘’Patrick?’’

‘’Shelagh.’’ He gave her a weak smile, hoping it was able to hide his fear from her. He had been nursing a massive crush on her since the first day she had joined their class a year ago. The last thing he wanted right now, was for her to think he was afraid of a simple roller coaster ride.

‘’Are you coming?’’

‘’Amm, well…’’’

‘’Are you okay?’’ she stepped closer and he could see she was worried about him. She really was the sweetest, the nicest young woman he had ever laid his eyes on. If she would only know how much she meant to him. They were friends, very good friends. They had spent almost the entire Summer together - getting ready for medical school, going on trips to the beach. They were always doing things together, but to think she could feel the same way he felt about her, was simply too good to be true.

She was too good for him, and no matter his best mate Fred had begged him to simply come out with it, Patrick was too scared to do anything about his feelings. Shelagh Mannion was the one and the only reason he had chosen University of Aberdeen to call his home for the next few years. To think he could make things awkward between them, by confessing how he really felt about her, was a risk he wasn’t ready to take.

‘’Amm, yeah, yeah, I’m fine. I’m just…’’

‘’Hurry up, Turner!! You can’t let your girl think you are scared of a little ride!!’’ Chris called from the queue when he noticed his friend wasn’t behind him and Trixie.

‘’Shut up, Dock!’’ Patrick shouted back feeling hot in the face, well aware Chris and Tom knew all about his feelings towards Shelagh and his little fear of heights.

‘’Bite me!’’ Chris laughed and wanted to say some more but was stopped by Trixie.

‘’You don’t have to go, if you don’t want to, you know?’’ Shelagh simply said.

‘’I know!’’ he nervously barked at her and quickly walked past her to the end of the queue, hoping she didn’t notice his blushing face when Chris mentioned her being his girl. But she did! And she knew him better, than he thought she did. Walking behind him, Shelagh quietly stopped next to him and no matter he refused to look at her, she knew he was nervous and ashamed of his behaviour towards her.

It took almost 10 minutes of waiting before the six of them finally paid their tickets and got on the ride. Wanting to see as little as it was possible, Patrick chose to sit at the back of the stupid roller coaster. Pulling a lap bar over him, he tried to calm himself down by closing his eyes and taking a few deep breaths. This was so stupid! He could say no! He could ask Shelagh to join him on the carousel! He knew she would say yes! But no! He had to act all brave and mighty and hurt her feelings in the process! He was such an idiot! He really needed to apologise to her when this whole thing would be over. If he would survive, of course.

Gripping onto the bar even tighter, he thought he was going to die any minute now…and the ride hadn’t even started yet. He could feel his rapid heart beat in his throat, the taste of fish and chips he had shared with Shelagh an hour ago in his mouth. He was somewhere in between passing out and being sick. All until he felt a warm hand taking his cold one to hold. Opening his eyes, he looked to his left and could see Shelagh smiling at him.

‘’You’ll be okay.’’ She simply said and squeezed his hand even tighter.

‘’I don’t know about that. All I can think of is me getting up there and losing my shit while going down.’’ He looked up to the highest point of the ride.

‘’Oh, god!’’ he gasped when the roller coaster slowly started to move.

‘’Would you like me to take your mind off of your worries?’’ Shelagh calmly offered.

‘’YES PLEASE!’’ Patrick almost screamed and looked back at her. And before he knew what was going on, Shelagh leaned closer and simply kissed him. Her soft lips covered his and passing out because of the fear of heights was the last thing on Patrick’s mind. Especially after he could feel her warm tongue making its way between his lips and touching his for the very first time.

‘’Better?’’ Shelagh pulled away just before the ride started to climb the first hill of the track. She had wanted to do this for months now, but was too scared to do it. But if he was brave enough to go on a ride and overcome his fear, she could surely do the same.

‘’Much, much better!’’ he grinned and kept grinning like an idiot through the entire ride.


	5. Fake dating AU, part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ''Fake dating AU'' for anon 🤗  
> this is part 2 of hmmm?

‘’Should we go through the names again?’’ Shelagh nervously asked from the passenger seat. As promised, Patrick had picked her up from her place exactly at nine in the morning and considering the whole situation he was unusually calm.

‘’I think, I’ve got everything covered.’’ He replied not taking his gaze from the busy motorway. In the past few days Shelagh had sent him a bunch of photos and notes about her family and countless texts asking if he was sure about all of this, followed by the sweetest apologizes for making him do this.

‘’Are you sure? How about…?’’

‘’Shelagh…’’ he chuckled, not used of her being so nervous.

‘’But…’’

‘’Your parents’ names are Douglas and Mary. You have a three years older sister called Olivia who is married to David. The two of them have four children – Jacob, Finn, James and little Ellie, who are 10, 8, 5 and 2 years old. Your dad is a retired policeman, your mum was a nurse. Olivia is a headmistress at Aberdeen High School. David teaches English at the same school…’’ Patrick started to say in one breath and all Shelagh could do was stare at him. He had actually read and remembered everything she had sent him. He knew everything! Every single detail, she had written down for him.

She didn’t know it now, but in years to come when someone asked her how did she know Patrick was the one? Shelagh always told them about this moment. The moment her little crush become something more. Love.

‘’…and your dad’s dog was called Skye but died last year being 13 years old.’’ He concluded his little speech and pressed down on the indicator before leaving the motorway. He could feel her gaze on him and to be completely honest, he was feeling pretty damn proud of himself. They were only about 20 minutes’ drive away from Shelagh’s childhood home and Shelagh stayed completely quiet for the rest of the drive.

**xXx**

‘’Shelagh!!’’ an older, familiar looking lady opened the big front door and pulled Shelagh into a hug in the next moment.

‘’Hello, Mum!’’ Shelagh managed to mumble into her mum’s shoulder. No matter she felt terrible about lying to them about Patrick, it felt absolutely amazing to be home for Christmas.

‘’Doug, they are hereee!!!’’ Mary called from the top of her lungs when she finally let go of her daughter. ‘’Hello.’’ She then looked over Shelagh’s shoulder, where Patrick was quietly standing, waiting to be introduced while holding onto his and Shelagh’s luggage. 

‘’Mrs Mannion.’’ Patrick placed his little baggage on the sidewalk, took a step forward and kindly offered his hand, but was as Shelagh quickly pulled into a hug.

‘’Forget all about that Mrs nonsense, my boy! We are family!’’ she let go of him and immediately turned to Shelagh. ‘’No matter for how long our dearest daughter has been hiding you from us.’’

‘’Mum…’’

‘’What? I really have no idea why you’ve kept him a secret! He’s handsome enough!’’ Mary giggled and made Shelagh blush, no matter it was true.

‘’Who are you calling handsome?’’ a tall man walked out of the house.

‘’Our new son in-law.’’ Mary smirked, not taking her gaze off of the young man standing in front of them.

‘’Mother!’’ Shelagh’s cheeks got even redder by the statement.

‘’Patrick Turner, Sir.’’ Patrick introduced himself and was pleasantly surprised when Doug, after a long stare, first offered him a hand and then as Mary pulled him into a bear hug.

‘’Welcome!’’ he warmly said, but Patrick could see a firmness in his eyes at the same time. It was a warning sign. And he totally understood him. If his daughter would bring some bloke he had never heard about home for Christmas, he wouldn’t welcome him as nicely as the Mannion’s just welcomed him.

‘’Come in, then! We don’t want to freeze to death!’’ Mary broke the spell between the four of them. ‘’Help the lad, Doug!’’ she added before pushing Shelagh inside, leaving her husband alone with Patrick for a moment.

‘’You really don’t have to, Sir.’’ Patrick quickly said and was about to take the baggage resting by his legs, when Doug reached for it.

‘’Oh, believe me, it’s better that I do.’’ Doug chuckled, well aware how his wife could be. He had promised her he would behave and welcome this Patrick person into his home without any mean comments. If his younger daughter had decided to keep him a secret, she probably had had a very good reason for doing so.

‘’Thank you, Sir.’’ Patrick politely smiled and was about to go in, when Doug’s deep voice stopped him.

‘’Turner?’’

‘’Yes, Sir?’’

‘’Listen…’’ the old man took a step closer ‘’…I feel kind of stupid saying this, but…I don’t want any funny business under my roof, understand?’’

‘’Ohh, you don’t have to worry about that, Sir.’’ Patrick seriously said but was giggling on the inside. 

‘’Good, I’m glad we are on the same page.’’ Doug added before walking past Patrick and into the house.

‘’Oh, believe me, we are.’’ Patrick whispered to himself before walking behind him. If Doug only knew the truth about them! But to be completely honest with himself, if he ever got the chance to get even closer to any funny business with the lovely Professor Mannion, no one, not even Shelagh’s father could stop him.

‘’Is there anything I can help you with?’’ Patrick could hear Shelagh ask her mum, when he finally stepped inside and closed the door behind him. The house was warm, illuminated by hundreds of little lights and it smelt like Christmas. In moments like this, he really missed having Tim with him for the holidays. 

‘’No, no dear. I have everything under control,” Mary replied. ‘’Why don’t you and Patrick go upstairs, unpack and freshen up a little, before dinner. Olivia and David should be here any minute now.’’

‘’Are you sure? I’m happy to hel-…’’

‘’Yes, yes! Go on.’’ Mary insisted and started pushing her out of the kitchen.

‘’Where are we staying?’’ Shelagh innocently asked when they reached Patrick in the hall.

‘’Well, in your old room, of course.’’

‘’What?!’’ Shelagh and Patrick said in one voice. Apparently, sharing a room was something they had forgotten to discuss. 

‘’Is there a problem?’’ Mary innocently asked and chuckled when she saw how shocked her daughter looked. 

‘’Amm, n-no, no, of course not.’’ Shelagh managed to reply with the biggest lump in her throat. It was one thing to beg her colleague to pretend to be her boyfriend for the holidays, but to ask him to spend the next two nights sharing a bed with her, was maybe just a little too much...no matter how big of a crush she had on him.

‘’We can easily make him a bed in Olivia’s old bedroom, if…’’ Doug quickly offered but was immediately shushed by his wife. ‘’Oh, Doug, don’t be silly, we are all adults here. Plus, I’m sure both Shelagh and Patrick are already aware, that we know that her virgin days are…’’

‘’Mary!’’ Doug’s face went white while Shelagh quickly interrupted her in the same breath, feeling absolutely mortified. ‘’MUM!’’

‘’What Doug? She’s not a nun, for god’s sake. Remember little Stevie from next door? I once caught them...’’ 

‘’We’ll be right back!’’ Shelagh grabbed Patrick’s hand and started pulling him upstairs with her, before her mum could finish whatever she wanted to say.

**xXx**

‘’I’m so, sooo sorry!’’ was the first thing Shelagh said when they entered her childhood bedroom, feeling absolutely mortified by her mum’s words. She loved her family, but sometimes they were simply too much. And Olivia hadn’t even arrived yet!

‘’Oh, don’t worry about it.’’ Patrick chuckled and took a look around the room. With a few pieces of white furniture and queen size bed in the corner, it was far from big, but felt cosy and warm. ‘’Is that Miss Franklin?’’ he pointed at one of the photo frames hanging on the wall, with two smiling teenage girls in it.

‘’Wha-…? Yes, yes, it is.’’ Shelagh replied confused. He didn’t appear to be upset about her mum's little fiasco from earlier. The opposite, he looked quite amused about the whole thing. ‘’We’ve known each other since kindergarten.’’

‘’Really? I didn’t know that.’’ He took his eyes from the photo and looked at her. She hadn’t changed much, he thought to himself. Or maybe she had. She was certainly more beautiful, if that was even possible.

‘’Just don’t tell Trix, you saw her wearing braces.’’ Shelagh took a step and stood next to him ‘’She hates that photo and she will never forgive me, if she finds out I’ve actually let you see it.’’

‘’She looks great. Cute even.’’ He smiled, still looking at her ‘’You both do.’’

‘’I…’’ she really had no idea how to respond. He was staring at her with his stupid eyes, and his kissable lips, and for a second Shelagh thought he was going to lean in and simply kiss her.

But no matter how badly he wanted to, he didn’t. They were always friends and colleagues, but the last few days had really brought them even more together. They had learned so much about each other, and no matter they were just pretending to be a couple, being in Shelagh’s childhood house for Christmas, made the whole thing feel real.

Coughing himself, he took an awkward step back and sat on her bed. ‘’So, little Stevie, hmm?’’ he changed the subject and wickedly smiled at her.

‘’Oh, for god’s sake. We were 12 and it was just a little peck on the lips!’’ Shelagh laughed and sat on the office chair opposite him, trying to get some space between them as he did. ‘’And my mum might joke about it now, but believe me, she wasn’t laughing when my dad was chasing him down the street, when he found out about it.’’

‘’He chased him?’’

‘’Chased him, threatened him to arrest him, if he ever again got close to me or my sister. You know, the usual normal thing fathers do.’’ Shelagh sarcastically said. ‘’Don’t tell me, you’ve never done anything like that to any of Tim’s girlfriends?’’

‘’Girlfriends? What girlfriends!?’’ Patrick’s head shot up. ‘’Do you know something I don’t?’’

‘’Maybe?’’ she bit her lips. The last time she had seen Timothy Turner was 5 months ago in a school parking lot waiting for his dad. And she would be lying, if she said that the boy hadn’t mentioned a girl named Susan Parkin a couple of times to her.

‘’Oh, god! He’s just a little boy!’’ he really should check on his son more often. He hated the fact he could not see him every single day, but to find out the young man wasn’t comfortable discussing girls with his own father, for some reason bothered him. No matter he understood why the boy didn’t say a word to him about this Susan girl.

‘’He’s 16, Patrick.’’ Shelagh had to laugh at his facial expression. ‘’Plus, if he is half of a gentleman like his father is, I’m sure nor Susan or you have anything to worry about.’’

‘’About that?’’ Patrick shifted himself to the edge of the bed.

‘’About what?’’

‘’How much of a gentleman do you want me to be while we are here?’’ Patrick playfully asked and could see her starting to blush, when she realized what he was asking.

‘’Well…’’

‘’I’ve already promised your dad, that there isn’t going to be any funny business under his roof, but…’’

‘’You what? When?!’’ Shelagh almost jumped from the office chair, not believing what she was hearing.

‘’We had a little talk while he was helping me with our baggage.’’

‘’Oh, god, Dad, nooo!’’ First her mum acting like a complete lunatic and now finding out about her dad having a little talk with Patrick. It was too much. She could only hope her sister wasn’t going to be in one of her moods today. ‘’In what mess have I pulled you in, I’m so sorry, Patrick!’’

‘’Shelagh, it’s okay.’’ Patrick pulled himself into a standing position and took her left hand in his, gently tracing his thumb over her soft skin, hoping it would help her to calm down. ‘’You are his daughter and I’m a…I don’t what I am, but…I get it. He wants the best for you, they both do. And they love you so much, that a blind man could see it from a mile.’’

‘’Patrick…’’

‘’Listen, no matter what happens, I’m glad you’ve asked me to come with you. I haven’t spent a Christmas surrounded by family since my divorce, and no matter this is not my family per say, I love being her with you, okay?’’

‘’Are you sure?’’

‘’Completely.’’

He was unbelievable, Shelagh thought to herself. Good god, she wanted to kiss him so, so badly! But she couldn’t! They were friends, and he was only pretending to be her boyfriend! This wasn’t real, no matter how much she wanted it to be ‘’Thank you.’’

‘’Anytime.’’ He gave her one of his grins, and Shelagh really had to do her best not to simply push him on her bed and suck that stupid smile off of his stupid face! Stupid Patrick Turner!

But he wasn’t! He was smart and cute and handsome and loveable and, and… _ stupid! _

‘’So,…’’ he let go of her hand, suddenly afraid of the way she was staring back at him ‘’…about me being a gentelm-…’’

‘’Yes, yes…’’ Shelagh coughed herself and wiped off her sweaty palms on the side of her jeans ‘’…h-how about we hold hands or touch each other, I mean…not like that, just, you know…’’ by this point she was getting really frustrated with herself ‘’…you know what I mean, right?’’

‘’I think, I do.’’ Patrick giggled. It was really sweet seeing always cool, calm, collective and professional Professor Mannion losing her…well, her shit, about this whole fake dating situation.

‘’Okay, good.’’ She breathed a sigh of relief ‘’I suppose we should get ready, then.’’

‘’We should.’’ He nodded and started to get ready for a night, which was about to change both of their lives

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> weshallc THANK YOU! xoxo I could not do this one without you!  
> so, yeah...like it or not, there is going to be part 3 of this... 🤗


	6. Argument leading to kissing/sex, part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Argument leading to kissing/sex for jenniferkatetaylor

‘’Just a moment!’’ Shelagh called, when the sound of the doorbell filled her flat. It was the evening before her dream wedding. A day before she would say yes to that handsome doctor of hers.

‘’I’m coming!’’ she said a little louder, when whoever was on the other side of the door, madly started knocking on it. She was just in the middle of trying her wedding dress for the last time before the big day, when somebody interrupted her.

‘’WILL YOU JUST WAIT, FOR GOD’S SAKE!’’ Shelagh stooped in the middle of the staircase and yelled. And with that the knocks stopped.

‘’Thank you!!’’ she exhaled and continued walking down the stairs, as quickly as it was possible, while still wearing her tight wedding dress.

Finally reaching the door, she turned the key and widely opened it. ‘’Patrick?’’ He was standing in front of her, soaking wet from the rain, looking rather dashing and...sad?

Good god! He thought to himself, when he saw her in her dress. She was absolutely stunning! Breath-taking beautiful! ‘’You’re gorgeous!’’ was all he was able to say, when he saw her. And she was. Not only tonight, for what mattered.

‘’T-Thank you.’’ Shelagh responded, not quite sure what to say, but at the same time could feel a blush creeping onto her cheeks. He wasn’t supposed to see it before the wedding. No one was.

‘’May I come in?” he asked after a few moments of silence between the two of them. He hated doing this! Absolutely hated himself for doing this to her, less than 24 hours before the wedding. But there was no other way.

‘’Yes, sure. Come in.’’ She stepped to the side and let him into the warmth of her flat. ‘’What’s going on, Patrick?’’ she calmly asked, no matter she was worried sick about the meaning of his late visit.

‘’Ammm...’’ he ran his fingers through his wet hair, with his back turned to her. It took every ounce of his courage for him to get here, but now when he was actually standing in front of her...

‘’Patrick?’’ she placed her hand on his shoulder and could feel him tense under her touch. She had no idea what was going through his mind, but something was definitely off.

‘’I can’t do it, Shelagh.’’ he finally said it, aware there was no way, this couldn’t end well for him.

‘’Do what?’’ she could literally feel her heart skip a beat, when the words left his mouth. ‘’You can’t do what, Patrick?’’ she firmly asked again, no matter she knew, her voice was starting to break.

Finally turning around, Patrick looked her directly into her eyes and said, ‘’I can’t walk you down the aisle tomorrow.’’

‘’What? Why not? Has something happened?’’ with her having no family left, it felt only right to ask her best friend to do the honours. Patrick Turner was, except her husband to be Dr Kevin McNulty, the most important man in her adult life. He was there in the best and the worst times in her life, and only a thought of him not being there for her, was completely unacceptable to Shelagh.

‘’No, yes...I mean...’’

“Patrick...’’ she took a step closer to him, and took his cold hand in her warm one.

‘’No, nothing’s happened.’’ He gave a weak smile, hating himself for doing this to her. But he simply could not do it. He thought he was strong enough, but how could he be? How could he see the woman he loved from the moment he had laid his eyes on her, marry someone who wasn’t him?

‘’Is that all the explanation you are going to give me?’’ Shelagh got annoyed. ‘’You show up at my house at this ungodly hour, tell me you can’t give me away the day before my wedding, but you don’t want to give me a simple reason for it. That’s not fair.’’

‘’I just, I can’t, aright.’’ He let go of her hand and moved away from her reach. It was hard enough to come here tonight, only to tell her, he wasn’t going to do the one thing she had asked him to do. But seeing the disappointment in her eyes, was something completely different. ‘’That’s not all.’’ he whispered and all she did was quietly waited for what he was about to say. 

‘’I won’t be coming to the wedding, either.’’

‘’W-WHAT!? Why not?!’’ Shelagh stopped breathing for a second. It was one thing to not to walk her down the aisle, but him not coming to the wedding was something completely different! She needed him there! Needed his presence! 

‘’Shelagh, I-…’’ he wanted to say, but was quickly interrupted by her firm voice. ‘’No, Patrick, NO! We’ve been friends for far too long for you to not to give me a reason for doing this!!’’ They had met during their uni days, and he was, except for Trixie, her best friend. The one person she could always rely on. The one who would give her everything she would ask for. The one she truly love-…

‘’Sorry.’’ He broke her train of thoughts and was about to walk out of her flat, when she grabbed his arm and made him look at her. ‘’Patrick.’’ She gently said, with teary eyes. She knew he had been acting a little weird, ever since she had announced her engagement to Kevin, but this? This wasn’t the Patrick she knew and loved. He was never afraid to voice what he was feeling, not to her.

‘’Shelagh, please don’t do this.’’ He begged, hating the fact he was hurting her feelings. If she only knew, how he really felt about her!

‘’Do what? I don’t even know what’s going on!’’ the first tear slipped down her cheek, and it broke his heart to know, he was the reason for it.

‘’Just let me go. Please.’’ He looked her directly into her eyes, but could see she wasn’t about to give up.

‘’NO!’’

‘’Shelagh…’’

‘’NO, PATRICK!’’ she once again raised her voice. ‘’YOU ARE NOT LEAVING THIS PLACE BEFORE YOU GIVE ME ONE GOOD REASON FOR YOUR STUPID DECISIONS!’’ She stepped between him and the door, crossed her arms over her chest and with that Patrick knew that there was no way, he was leaving without an explanation. But he could not give her one, especially not the real one.

‘’SHELAGH!’’

‘’NO!’’ She said, with her voice now breaking, ‘’NOT UNTIL YOU TELL ME WHY ONE, THE MOST IMPORTANT PERSON IN MY LIFE, WON’T COME TO MY OWN FUCKING WEDDING?!’’

‘’I CAN’T COME, ALRIGHT. I CAN’T!’’ he barked back, getting more and more frustrated by the whole situation.

‘’WHY NOT!’’

‘’BECAUSE!’’

‘’WHY!??’’

‘’BECAUSE, I DON’T WANT TO SEE YOU MARRY THAT GUY!’’


	7. Argument leading to kissing/sex, part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Argument leading to kissing/sex, part 2 for jenniferkatetaylor

…

‘’BECAUSE, I DON’T WANT TO SEE YOU MARRY THAT GUY!’’ the words left his mouth before he could stop himself. Shit! He cursed himself, when he saw the way she was staring back at him.

‘’Why not?’’ she simply asked, after a few moments of complete silence between the two of them, surprising both of them with the calmness in her voice.

‘’B-Because, he doesn’t deserve you.’’ He honestly replied. 

‘’Oh, really?’’ she sarcastically chuckled. ‘’Listen to me Patrick, he might not be perfect, but I love him!’’

“Do you?’’ Patrick sadly asked, not for a moment believing any of her words, ‘’Do you, really?”

‘’Of course, I do!’’ She replied as honestly as she was able, but he knew her way better, than she thought he did. He saw the nervousness in her eyes, the comfortless in her body posture.

‘’I don’t believe you!’’ he raised his voice at her. He was so tired of this! Tired of him not saying the things that needed to be said! Tired of not being able to tell her, how he really felt about any of this! About her!

“You what?” she could not believe what she was hearing.

‘’I DON’T BELIEVE YOU!” he repeated and took a step closer to her. “I do not, not for a second, believe that you are actually in love with the guy, Shelagh. You might have loved him once, but there is no way you still feel the same about him. You can't! Especially, after what he’s done to you, just a fucking month before your wedding!!’’

“H-How do you know about that?!’’ she froze as she instantly knew what he was talking about. But how did he know? She had told only one person, and that was Trixie.

‘’BECAUSE, THE IDIOT GOT DRUNK AND BLOODY BRAGGED ABOUT THE WHOLE THING TO ME!!’’

“He didn't know what he was doing. He was drunk, when it’s happened!’’ Shelagh tried to defend his fiancée, well aware she was making a fool of herself by saying this.

‘’For fuck’s sake, don’t make excuses for him!!”

“I’m no-...’’ she tried, but there was no use.

“Don’t.” He shook his head “He’s cheated on you, Shelagh! Cheated! Twice!” Patrick lost his temper, hating the fact she wasn’t being honest with herself and him, ‘’HE’S FUCKED TWO WOMEN IN ONE NIGHT, AND THE FACT YOU STILL THINK HE’S WORTHY TO EVEN LOOK AT YOU, NOT TO MENTION TOUCH YOU, AFTER WHAT HE’S DONE, MAKES ME SICK TO MY STOMACH!’’ he was so angry! Not at her, but at himself! He should have protected her! Long before this whole thing between her and Kevin got serious.

‘’WHO IS WORTHY OF ME THEN, HMMMM! WHO!’’ Shelagh started yelling back at him, on the verge of crying again. Everything he just said was a total truth, and it scared her how right he was! ‘’TELL ME, OH, MIGHTY PATRICK TURNER! WHO IS WORTHY OF ME, IF NOT FUCKING KEVIN MCNULTY!?!’’ If he only said the words she was dying to hear from him!

I AM! He wanted to scream from the top of his lungs, but was still afraid to do it. ‘’Shelagh...’’

‘’NO!’’ she pushed him against the wall, his back hitting the hard surface with a loud bang. She was standing so close to him, he could feel the warmth of her body on his! There was so much passion and hurt in her eyes, that the only thing he wanted to do, was to hold her in his arms and make it better. He hated doing this to her! Hated breaking her heart with what was needed to be said.

“Shelagh...’’ he wanted to try again, but it was too late. She was off.

“HOW DARE YOU COME TO MY HOUSE, LESS THAN 24 HOURS BEFORE MY WEDDING AND DO THIS TO ME!?!’’ Her small fists started hitting his firm chest and he didn’t do a thing to stop her. It was the least he deserved right now.

‘’WHY PATRICK!?!” she added when he kept quiet, and started to openly sob at this point. The moistness of her tears and the warmth of her breath started fogging her glasses, but that didn’t stop her from hitting him even harder. “WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME!!?!’’ 

‘’BECAUSE, I’M FUCKING IN LOVE WITH YOU, THAT’S WHY!!’’ the words he was dying to say for so long, finally left his mouth. 

Silence. 

Complete silence was all that filled the air between them.

They just stared at each other. The sound of the rain falling outside was the only thing that filled their ears for a few quiet seconds.

“Oh, fuck...’’ Patrick was the first to speak when he realised what he’d done, but was, to his surprise, immediately shut up by her stepping on her tiptoes and covering his lips with hers.

Before he knew what was happening, Shelagh’s tongue forced him to open his mouth for her and boldly pushed her body against his.

‘’Shelag-...’’ he tried to stop her, he really did. But by the way she was kissing him, he knew he had no chance.

Burying her fingers into his wet dark hair, she pulled him even closer down to her, and the only thing Patrick was able to do was moan and finally! finally place his shaking hands on her body.

Feeling his touch on her, made Shelagh lose the last ounce of the self-control that was left in her. Before he knew it, her eager lips left his, and started making a wet trail of kisses down his face and onto his neck.

‘’Oh, gooood!” Patrick groaned and closed his eyes shut, when she sucked and bit the skin just above his Adam’s apple. This was in a way, simply too much for him.

“S-Shelagh...’’ he managed to call her name again, no matter her fingers started to untie his tie and unbutton his shirt. ‘’Shelagh....!’’ but it was like she never heard him.

She just kept doing what she was set to do, and before they knew it, their lips found each other and started the whole thing all over again. 

Her head was literally spinning, but she couldn’t stop! Not now, not after he finally said the words, she was dying to hear from him for so long!

She could still feel the tension in his body, hear him thinking this wasn’t right. But how could any of this be wrong, when he made her feel so much with a simple kiss. Made her feel alive and happy! Something Kevin hasn’t been able to achieve, not even in their most intimate moments!

“We need to stop...’’ he hissed when she finally unbuttoned his shirt and quickly untucked the cotton material out of his suit pants. No matter how much he wanted this, wanted her, it wasn’t fair to her. She was right. He had no right to do this to her. Especially the day before her wedding.

“I don’t want to stop,” was all she said back and pressed the first kiss onto the middle of his chest. He could feel her nails dig into the skin of his back and the whole thing almost made him cry. He longed for this moment for so long! So quietly!

‘’Dooon’t!’’ he groaned when she locked her oh-so soft lips around one of his nipples and gently sucked on it.

Feeling her hot lips and tongue on him, he knew this was his last chance to try and stop them or let go of the last thing that was holding him back and actually go through with all of this.

And with him being Patrick, he did the first thing. Cupping her face, he made her look at him. Her blue eyes were staring back into his dark ones, and as she was trying to get some fresh air into her lungs, he simply asked her ‘’Are you sure you want to do this?!”

And all she said was “YES!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 😉😉 so...do I need to write part 3??


	8. Playing with their hair while their head’s in your lap

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Playing with their hair while their head’s in your lap for ginchy 😃

''Shelagh?'' Patrick called his wife's name, when his palm ran over nothing but cold sheets, on her side of their bed. Checking the time on the small alarm clock on his nightstand, he could see it was something over six in the morning. A little too early for his darling wife.

Pulling a t-shirt and a fresh pair of boxers on him, he made his way out of the bedroom, and it didn’t take him long before he found her.

‘’Hello, you.’’ He gently said, when he pushed on the already ajar bathroom door and saw her half laying half sitting on the floor, next to the toilet seat. ‘’What’s going on?’’

‘’I don’t know.’’ Shelagh gave him a weak smile and made some space for him to sit next to her, ‘’It must be something I ate.’’

‘’I don’t think my cooking is that bad, is it?’’ He tried to make her laugh as he was making his way to her. This was the eighth morning in the last two weeks that he had found her hugging the toilet and not him in the early hours of the morning.

‘’Believe me, it is.’’ Shelagh teased, aware they both knew his cooking had come a long way since he was a single man.

‘’Come here.’’ Patrick wrapped his arm around her, placed a loving kiss on her forehead, and let her rest her head on his lap. ‘’Is there anything I can get you?’’

‘’No.’’ She shook her head and tried to make herself comfortable.

‘’Thank god for the underfloor heating then, hmm?’’ He joked as his fingers found their way into her hair and started gently playing with it. It was one of those things, he knew it made her feel calmer and safe, no matter what was happening around her.

‘’Mhm.’’ She mumbled already half asleep. She was so tired! All the bloody time! It felt that all she had been doing for these past few days was vomiting and sleeping. Bloody Trixie, and her decision to make and force her best friend to try every single dish from her new cookbook. The one her mother-in-law had given her as a birthday gift last month.

‘’Should we move you back into the bed?’’ he asked when he looked down and saw her dozing off. She was a little pale, but other than that, she looked like she always did. Absolutely breath-taking beautiful. 

‘’Don’t you dare to move me, Patrick Turner!’’ she warned him and the firmness in her voice made him chuckle. 

So he didn’t. They spent a good hour just sitting on the floor, talking about everything and nothing. All until their son turned on the light and walked in.

‘’Oh, good morning.’’ Timothy stopped in place when he saw them on the floor. ‘’You are aware, this is not your bedroom, right?’’

‘’We are.’’ Patrick smiled but did not move an inch from his sitting position. There was no way he was leaving his wife's side before she was ready to move. No matter how many more times his leg would fall asleep.

‘’Have you been sick again?’’ Tim worriedly looked at his mum.

‘’Just a bit.’’ Shelagh gave him a weak smile. The 15-year-old boy looked just like his father. Especially with his hair sticking out in all of the directions. 

‘’Is there anything I could do to help?’’

‘’Angela should be up any minute now. Would you mind making her breakfast?’’ Shelagh asked with her head still in her husband's lap. He felt too good, for her to even think to move away from him.

‘’Yeah, sure.’’

‘’Thank you.’’

‘’Are you going to see a doctor?’’ Tim asked, just before he was about to leave.

‘’I don’t think so. It’s probably just a bug or something.’’ Shelagh tried to put on a brave face for her son. The last thing she wanted was for Tim to worry about her.

‘’Or maybe you’re just pregnant.’’ He casually said, before disappearing from his parents’ view.

‘’Yeah, right.’’ Shelagh chuckled, well aware of her chances for her son being right. 

‘’Shelagh?’’ Patrick slowly said her name, after a few moments of silence.

‘’Mmm?’'

‘’What if you are...you know?’’ 

‘’What? Pregnant?’’ Shelagh finally sat up and looked at him. She thought he was only joking, but the look on his face told her other otherwise. ‘’Patrick, you can’t be serious.’’

‘’I don’t know.’’

‘’You and I both know our chances for that happening, are lower than 1%.’’

‘’I know, I know.’’ He pulled himself on his feet and closed the door, so they could have some privacy, ‘’But...’’

‘’But what?’’ Shelagh kept sitting on the floor.

‘’You’ve been puking like crazy these last few days and...’’

‘’And I’ve told you the reason for it. Trixie’s mothe-...’’

‘’Yeah, yeah, I know all about that, but...what if?’’ He knew he shouldn’t be so hopeful about any of this. They had tried for a baby for almost three years before finally deciding to give in and simply enlarge their little family by adopting.

‘’Patrick...’’ Shelagh finally stood up, took his hand and pulled him into her body ‘’...don’t.’’ She saw that familiar little spark of hope in his beautiful brown eyes, so many times when they had been trying for a baby back in the days. And every time the pregnancy test showed a negative result, her heart had bled when she saw the disappointment in them. 

‘’I’ve made my peace with it and...’’

‘’And so have I.’’ Patrick quickly cut her, wrapping his hands around her waist. ‘’We have a five-year-old sleeping in her pink bedroom down the hall as a proof, but...’’

‘’But what?’’ She bit her inner cheek. Oh, her husband, always the optimist. But she loved him even more for it. They both had had a hard time accepting that their chances of having biological children of their own, were almost a zero. However, they were the lucky ones. Because no matter how many tears and hard times they had shared while going through countless fertility treatments, in the end, their love was stronger than any of the fights and disappointments at that time.

‘’You have to admit, that you do have some signs that might suggest you are expecting.’’

‘’What signs, Patrick? All I did was vomit a couple of times, that’s it.’’

‘’And your breasts?’’ he playfully added.

‘’What about them?’’ She looked at him as he was a mad man.

‘’Well, for the last few days, someone does not even want me to look at them, let alone kiss them or even touch them.’’ He playfully said and made her blush. ‘’Plus, we’ve been like two little rabbits for the last few weeks.’’

‘’Patrick! That’s not true!’’ She buried her face into his chest, no matter she knew he was right. Mostly about her breasts being tender, not about them doing it like crazy. But to be completely honest, they had never really left their honeymoon faze when it came to their sex life.

‘’Oh no? How about last night? And the day before that, hmm? You know, you jumping me, while I was in the shower. And how about three days ago, when Timothy texted us he was going to be late and you almost broke my hip while...’’

‘’Alright, alright! You are right, we are like rabbits!!’’ she laughed when she realized he wasn’t lying. But who could judge her, when she had the most handsome husband in the world. 

‘’See?’’ he loved making her blush. ''When was your last period??''

''I don't know.'' She shrugged her shoulders. It'd been so irregular for so long, she's just stopped tracking it.

"I see.'' He bit his inner cheek.

‘’I’m not pregnant,” she calmly said, not for a second believing Patrick might be right. She had made her peace with the whole thing years ago, and thanked God every day, for having Angela in their lives. She was a bright, happy and healthy little girl, and Shelagh could not ask for more.

‘’There is only one way for you to find out.’’

‘’Patrick Turner, I’m not walking to the chemist to get a pregnancy test at this ungodly hour, just because you think, my ovaries are suddenly able to produce super high-quality eggs.’’ Shelagh giggled. 

‘’You don’t have to.’’ He smirked back, let go of her, and walked to the sink cabinet.

‘’What are you talking about?’’ she frowned her eyebrows and folded her arms over her chest, with no idea what he meant.

Not answering her, he opened his drawer, the one where he kept his shaving kit, moved some things around, and then pulled some sort of box out of it.

‘’And for how long has that been laying around?’’ Shelagh smirked, when she saw he was holding a small pregnancy test box in his hand.

‘’For about three weeks now.’’ He calmly replied and walked back to her.

‘’What do you mean?’’ she really had no idea what he was talking about. 

‘’Don’t be mad, but...’’ he once again wrapped his free hand around her waist and pulled her close.

‘’Yes?’’

‘’...look, I know it’s silly considering everything we know, but maybe I’ve never given up hope that someday we just might succeed.’’

‘’Patrick....’’ Shelagh cupped his cheek. He really was the sweetest man ever.

‘’Let me finish...’’ he chuckled ‘’...that’s why, I’ve kind of kept buying a new pregnancy test every two months, and hid in my drawer for the past five or six years.’’ 

‘’You what?’’ she could feel a set of fresh tears in her eyes. After everything they had been through, her husband still clung to that less than 1% of the chances of them getting pregnant. At any other time, she might get upset with him for dragging the past back, but this wasn't that time.

‘’Hey, hey, don’t cry.’’ He quickly brushed a falling tear from her cheek, with his thumb. He knew how much they had been through, and the last thing he wanted to do was make her feel sad. ‘’You don’ t have to do it, Shelagh. I would never force you too...’’

‘’I know.’’ She understood this was his way of dealing with something he could not fix. 

‘’Forget about it. It was just a silly idea and I’m sorr-...’’ he turned around, ready to throw the box into the bathroom bin, when she stopped him, ‘’What?’’

‘’Give it here.’’ She smiled at him, took the test from his grasp with one hand and used another one to pull onto his collar. ‘’I love you, Patrick Turner,” she simply said and placed a soft kiss on his lips.

‘’I love you too.” He whispered against her lips, ‘’So, so much.’’

‘’Now...get out and let me do a wee.’’ She took a deep breath. No matter she knew, there was no chance she could be pregnant, she had to admit she suddenly felt nervous about the whole thing.

‘’No pressure, alright.’’ He worriedly said, afraid he has started something, that had once almost broken them apart.

‘’I just don’t want to disappoint you, Patrick.’’

‘’Okay, forget about it.’’ He tried to take the box out of her hand again, but she quickly moved it away from his reach. ‘’Shelagh, the last thing that I want, is to upset you.’’

‘’I know. And you didn’t.’’ She reassured him. She knew he loved her with every fiber of his being. He had proved that to her, countless times since they had been together. 

‘’But...’’

‘’I’m okay.’’ She once again kissed him, trying her best to calm him down. And it helped.

“I know, I’m not pregnant, Patrick. But if I am, I’d advise you to start saving some money for condoms for the future!’’ she joked, while nudging her nose against his.

‘’I promise!’’ He gave her another peck. ‘’I’ll be in the kitchen.’’

‘’Alright.’’ She nodded and closed the door behind him. For a second she had no idea how she felt about the whole thing. But she knew the truth and her chances for the test being positive, this time around. Which made her instantly feel better. She could do this, she thought to herself, took a deep breath, and opened the box.

**xXx**

‘’Shelagh, love, is everything alright in there?’’ Patrick worriedly knocked on the bathroom door, after almost 20 minutes of waiting for her downstairs. ‘’Shelagh?’’ he tried again, but quickly decided to just go in, when she still didn’t answer him.

‘’Shelag-...’’ he opened the door and saw her sitting in the same place, he had found her sitting earlier this morning. But this time, he could see she was crying.

‘’Oh, god! Shelagh, I’m so sorry!’’ He was at her side in the next moment, wrapping his arms around her and absolutely hated himself, for putting her through this again.

‘’I’m such an idiot, love! Such a bloody idiot!’’ he started to repeat over and over again.

‘’I’m so, so sorry for making you do this!’’ He took her face in his palms and made her look at him.

‘’It’s alright,’’ Shelagh replied, staring back at him with old and fresh tears in her eyes.

‘’Oh, god!’’ he hated seeing her like this! Hated himself for making her feel this way! Never again, was he going to ask her to do anything like this! Never!

‘’Patrick?’’ she calmly said his name. As he, she hated when he was upset. Absolutely hated when he cried.

‘’Hmm?’’ He sniffed. 

‘’You were right.’’

‘’About what?’’ 

‘’I’m pregnant.’’ She replied, not quite believing it was the truth.‘’It’s positive.’’ She pulled the pregnancy test out of her hoodie front pocket and showed it to him.

And there they were. Two strong blue lines, saying that they were in fact, expecting a new member of their little family.

‘’No?’’ Patrick looked at the lines and then back at her wife, who was at this point grinning like a fool, and then back at the lines.

‘’Yeah.’’ She nodded, feeling she was about to burst with happiness. In all of their years of trying to get pregnant, they had never, not once, gotten two lines. 

‘’No.''' he shook his head. ''Yes?’’ he could not believe what he was seeing. 

‘’YES!’’ she just kept smiling, all until he pulled her into a kiss, filled with so much hope and happiness and...they are going to have another child!!! He thought to himself as his hand flew onto her belly and he deepened their kiss.

‘’What’s going on in here?’’ Tim’s voice broke their little make-out session, when he came upstairs to see why his parents were screaming like maniacs. 

‘’She’s pregnant!’’ Patrick's face almost broke in two.

‘’I’ve told you so.’’ Tim proudly said before he let his father pull him into a group hug in the next moment! He was truly happy for them, for all of them. He loved being an older brother, but... ‘’But just so you know...’’

‘’What?’’ his parents said in one voice.

“I don’t want to know any details.’’ 


	9. Argument leading to kissing/sex, part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Argument leading to kissing/sex, part 3 for jenniferkatetaylor

Patrick had no idea how they had managed to get up the stairs and into her bedroom without getting hurt in the process. The second Shelagh had said yes to all of this, his hands and lips had gotten a mind of their own.

“Fuck!” The word left Patrick’s mouth when she forcefully pushed him against the hard surface of the bedroom door and continued taking his clothes off. With his tie and shirt already abandoned on the floor at the bottom of the stairs, her fingers quickly started working on his belt.

Before he even knew when and how, Shelagh undid his belt, unzipped his zipper and pushed the trousers off of his hips, leaving him standing in front of her only in his boxer shorts. 

“Doooon’t!” he hissed between their heated kisses, when he felt her palm cupping his hardness for the very first time. But it was like she never heard him. She was like a wild animal, but Patrick knew he had to calm them down. Which was not an easy task to do, considering she was literally all over him. 

“Shelagh...” he tried again, but it was so damn hard! He wanted her the same way she wanted him. 

“For the love of god, just stop talking and get me out of this dress!” Shelagh gasped, when she felt him running his thumb over her breast. She needed to feel him skin to skin. She needed proof that this was actually happening!

“Where the fuck..?” his fingers blindly searched for any kind of zip or set of buttons on her back, but couldn’t find any.

“On the side!!” she impatiently said and threw her right arm in the air, so he could finally unzip her out of her wedding dress, which was at this point, making her feel trapped and miserable. Completely the opposite of what she had been feeling less than an hour ago.

“It’s stuck!’’ 

‘’Just tear it!’’ she almost screamed, tired of having the damn thing on her. “TEAR IT!!”

So he did. Without even thinking twice, a ripping sound filled their ears and before they knew it, she was standing before him only in her white strapless bra, a set of white lace knickers and... “Oh, shiiit.” Patrick hissed when his eyes rested on her milky thighs. She was wearing a matching garter, and no matter he knew, she hadn't bought it with him in mind, Patrick could not, not for a second bring himself to feel guilty about the fact Kevin wasn’t going to enjoy it. Ever.

“You are so beautiful...’’ he knew it was a cliché to say it, but it was the truth. And by the smile she gave him, she didn’t really mind him saying it.

“Come here,” she almost whispered, stepping on her tiptoes and once again locked her lips with his. Pressing herself against the length of his body, she could finally feel the warmth radiating from him without any barrier between them. It wasn’t much, but it made her feel safe and free and... at home. Something she had been missing, since the day she and Kevin had gotten together. 

“Patriiick!” she giggled in surprise when he suddenly cupped her behind and with one swift move, made her lock her legs around his waist.

‘’My time,” he playfully replied before turning them around and pushing her back against the door. Without wasting any more time, his lips eagerly latched on her own - kissing, biting and sucking on them like there was no tomorrow. He could feel every inch of her on him. Her limbs were wrapped around him, leaving no space between them, and it almost made him cry. 

Leaving her lips, he made a painfully slow path down her long neck, making love bites on his way, which made Shelagh dig her nails into the soft flesh of his shoulders.

“For fuck sake!” he breathlessly cursed when his fingers, once again, could not detect a bra clasp on her back. “Where...?”

“At the front!’’ Shelagh laughed with him. This was so Patrick, she thought to herself. ‘’Let me.” 

“God, yes, please!!!” he leaned back, so she could slip her hands between them and with one swift move, made him the happiest man on earth. 

“This is the best day ever!” He made her laugh even harder, but it was no laughing matter when he took one of her already hardened nipples in his mouth and gently sucked on it in the next moment. 

“Ahhhhh...” Shelagh threw her head back as he made feel so many things at once. This really was the best day ever!

As always, Patrick took his time with everything he was doing. His lips slowly traveled from one breast to another, giving them an equal time of love and attention. He couldn’t get enough of her. And she didn’t mind.

“Paatriiicck...!” she gasped his name as he kept his mouth and hands busy on her breasts. He could feel her try to rock her hips against him a couple of times, desperately trying to find some kind of friction with no success. 

Smiling against her skin, he was about to slip one on his hands between them and under the lacy material of her knickers, but she quickly pushed it away. “Later!” she half demanded, half pleaded. 

_ Later _ . Only the fact she was already thinking about them repeating all of this, made him feel lightheaded. 

“BED! NOW!” Shelagh got tired of his teasing. She was so close to losing it, but not like this. She wanted him in bed! In her bed! Now and forever! 

Almost killing himself while kicking off his shoes and stepping out of his trousers, Patrick once again turned them around and after a few quick steps, laid her onto her bed.

“Oh, no Turner!” she smirked and before he knew what was happening, Shelagh pushed on his shoulders and rolled them around, so she was now sitting on top of him.

She was much stronger than she looked, Patrick thought to himself as she was looking down at him with her blue eyes. He had no idea when she got rid of her glasses, but it didn’t really matter. She looked beautiful with or without them.

“Do you mind?” she asked out of breath and gently pushed her hips down onto his growing erection, quietly letting him know what she meant. Kevin had never been a fan of her being on top and in control. She hated that about him. To think about it, she disliked a lot of things about him.

“Never.” He gave a smile. How could she even for a moment think he would mind any of this?

“Good.” She returned the smile and let his eyes run over her body, down her breasts and on to her flat stomach and back again, before lowering down and kissing him.

For the next few minutes, Patrick’s mind was in a blur. He could feel her eager lips on him and her hot body pushing down on his, but it didn’t matter. She took the lead and at this point, all he had to do, was follow. 

But it quickly got not enough...for both of them.

“Shelaaaghhh...” he gasped her name into her mouth, when she rocked her hips down on his, a little harder for the second time in a row.

“Yes?” she innocently mumbled, well aware what she was doing to him. She could feel him hard and ready under her, and to be completely honest she was tired of playing games too.

“I-I...” he really had trouble thinking straight at this point, “...don’t know.”

“Boxers off?” she helped him out, well aware that there wasn’t enough blood flooding into his brain at this point.

“Everything off!” he chuckled.

“Except the garter!” he quickly added when he saw, it was the first thing she wanted to remove.

“Alright.” She bit her inner cheek in amusement. If he only knew that she had bought the damn thing with him in mind. She had felt absolutely terrible at the time, but now…

Not taking his eyes off of her, Patrick’s gaze followed the path of her fingers into her panties and watched her slowly, but steady, pull them off of her.

It was a good thing he was laying down, he thought to himself as he continued staring at her. How was it possible that she just kept getting more and more beautiful!?!

Seeing his eyes’ got even darker, Shelagh boldly tucked her fingers into his boxers and finally, finally, set him free.

“For the love of god, would you stop grinning and just come here!!!” Patrick playfully demanded, when she took a few painfully slow seconds to simply stare at him in all of his glory.

“Is that a blush I see, Dr. Turner?’’ she took pity on him and slid onto her previous position.

‘’Oh, it definitely is!” his fingers dug into the side of her thighs. How could there not be one? He dreamed about this moment so many times, the fact alone made him blush. 

“So, stop with teasing, Miss Mannion!” 

And she did. Without taking her gaze away from him, she slipped down his body, took him in her palm and painfully slowly lowered herself onto him.

The simplest act alone, made both of them gasp in one voice. But it was too good, too pure for them to not react to what had just happened between the two of them.

For a few moments, they just kept still, without saying or doing a thing. They were two and now they were one. And it meant so much to both of them.

“Go on.” Patrick encouraged her, when he finally found his voice. And it worked.

Shelagh rolled her hips against him for the very first time but then suddenly paused.

‘’W-What?’’ Patrick worriedly asked. Was something wrong? Had she realized this whole thing was one big mistake?! Surely not! He was bloody inside her, feeling her in a way he never thought he would. She was warm, wet and so perfectly tight, but if this was her way of saying they needed to stop, he would. No matter how hard it would be.

‘’Shelagh...’’ he sat himself up, wrapped his arms around her waist and pushed her chest flat against his own, when she kept quiet, ‘’...talk to me.”

Giving him a sweet smile, she cupped his cheek and simply said, ‘’I love you, Patrick.’’ 

‘’What?’’ he chuckled, surprised by her declaration. In a way he always knew how she really felt about him, but to actually hear her say it...it was too perfect.

‘’I love you.’’ She repeated herself as honestly as she knew how. She needed him to understand that what they were about to do, wasn’t just something she needed to do before marrying Kevin. She and he were over the moment Patrick had told her he was in love with her. 

This wasn’t the end for them, it was the beginning. And she needed him to know it. ‘’I love  _ you _ and I want _ you _ . Only  _ you _ ,” she added with teary eyes.

“Come here.’’ His lips covered hers in the next moment, and they could both feel a wash of relief going through their bodies. This was how it was supposed to be from the day they had met each other. He and she. Them. Together. Forever.

Their tongues slowly started building the rhythm of passion and love, and before they knew it, Shelagh’s hips joined in. She started slow, but her gentle rocks were driving Patrick crazy. They had longed for this for so long and so quietly, there really was no reason for rushing it. They had all night after all. All their lives.

‘’Ohh, shiiiit.’’ Patrick hissed under his breath when she buried her head into the crook of his neck and picked up her pace. If she only knew, how good she felt! He could feel her teeth sunk into the soft flesh of his shoulder, but he couldn’t care less. She could do whatever she wanted to do with him, and he would have even thanked her for it at the end. 

“Patriiiiiick...” Shelagh moaned his name, when he cupped her backside and helped her thrust and roll her hips ever harder down on him, and at the same time tried his best to match the movements of her hips with his.

“I know! I knooow!” he groaned back, knowing exactly what she was feeling right that moment. It was like they had been made for each other long before they had met. There were no words needed between them. They let their bodies do the talking.

Without opening her eyes, she cupped his face and once again brought him into a deep kiss, which at the same time muffled her sweet whimpers. She could feel a strong wave of heat starting to build somewhere deep inside of her and it was almost too much to handle.

“Ohhhhhh...” Shelagh left his lips and threw her head back when he hit that sweet spot inside her, giving him the perfect opportunity to give her breasts some more needed attention. And he took it.

They had never done this before but Patrick could feel she wasn’t far from falling apart in his hold. Every part of her body told him so. ‘’Shelagh!’’ he called her name, desperate for her to look at him. ‘’Shelagh!!’’

‘’Mhhhhhmmm…’’ she locked her eyes with his, not for a second breaking their steady rhythm. But he didn’t say anything back to her. He just stared at her ocean blue eyes, concentrating only on her and their movements. She had no idea how beautiful she looked to him right now with her face flushed, her hair messed, her lips swollen.

‘’Oh, goooood!’’ she whimpered as he suddenly thrust his hips upwards with a little more force, making her eyes water with pleasure. She could feel her inner walls squeeze and flutter around him; she was so close she could taste it…but she knew he wasn’t. Not yet anyway.

‘’Wait!’’ Shelagh suddenly paused.

‘’What!?’’ he asked out of breath with no idea what could be that important.

‘’Catch up!’’ She knew that no matter what ever had been going on between the two of them in the past, Patrick had always put her first. But not today.

‘’But…’’ he tried to protest but she quickly shut him up by covering his lips with hers. This was not time for arguing, they were doing this together! And thankfully he was smart enough to listen to her. With a few long thrusts he finally caught up with her and it took Shelagh’s hips just two rolls before pushing them over the edge. They held on to each other as the waves of heat overtook their bodies over and over again. Their groans and moans muffled by their sloppy kisses.

‘’Oh, my god…’’ he choked as he felt back on the mattress, bringing her down with him, ‘’…this was…oh, shit, this was…’’

‘’Amazing!’’ she ended his sentence, her head now resting on him, as his chest tried to catch up with his rapid breathing.

‘’W-We are so good!’’ he started to laugh, amazed by the force of his orgasm.

‘’We are.’’ She laughed with him and propped herself up on his chest. ‘’The best.’’

‘’Oh, shit.’’ He covered her face with his palms, trying his best to gather his thoughts.

‘’Don’t!’’ Patrick giggled when she playfully rocked herself against him. He was still inside her, but no matter how much he wanted to do this all over again, they both knew they needed a little break. Gently rolling off of him, Shelagh quickly cuddled into his side and let him wrap his hand around her. Their bodies were all sweaty but neither of them could care less. They stayed quiet for a few minutes, enjoying the fuzzy, blissful feeling coursing through their orgasm-inflected body, better known as afterglow.

‘’What are you thinking about?’’ Shelagh was the first to speak.

‘’Urinary tract infections,” he seriously said.

‘’What kind of a pillow talk is this, Dr. Turner!?’’ she playfully smacked him on his chest

‘’An educational one?’’ he started laughing and she quickly joined in. ‘’But really…please go and have a wee, I’d hate myself if you get a UTI because of me.’’

‘’Okay…’’ she bit her inner cheek, already aware he was going to say yes to her preposition, ‘’…but only if you’ll join me in the shower after it.’’

‘’I don’t think I’m strong enough…’’

‘’Oh, really?’’ Shelagh chuckled, rolled away from him and out of the bed completely naked. ‘’You know where to find me.’’ She said over her shoulder before disappearing out of the room. And it took him only two seconds before he jumped on his feet and ran after her.

They made love two more times that night. First in the shower and once again in her bed, before finally falling asleep wrapped in each other's embrace, completely exhausted. And with Patrick feeling frisky the next morning, they would have repeated the whole thing again, if Trixie and the girls hadn’t barged into Shelagh’s bedroom in the early hours of the morning. Ready to prep the bride to be for the wedding that was never going to happen. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that's it! now..give me a review dear reader hahah I'm begging you... 🥺😘


	10. Fake dating AU, part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ''Fake dating AU'' for anon!  
> part 3/3

“So, Patrick...” Shelagh’s sister started the conversation when the entire family sat down for a little family Christmas Eve dinner before going to church “...Shelagh tells me you are divorce.’’

“Olivia!” Shelagh could not believe what she was hearing!

“What?” Olivia innocently smirked, well aware of what she was doing.

“Darling...” Mary wanted to stop what her eldest daughter had started, but Patrick was quicker, “Yes, yes I am.” He had no trouble talking about him and Marianne. They had had a good marriage, but with her being away for most of the time, working all over Europe, they had been simply two people who had grown apart in time and hadn’t been afraid to admit it.

“Any children?” Olivia pushed, forcing Shelagh to kick her under the table and mouthed ‘shut up!’ towards her.

“Yes, a boy. He’s 16.” Patrick proudly smiled. He knew exactly what Olivia was doing, interrogating him in front of Shelagh’s parents. But he didn’t mind, he had nothing to hide from them.

‘’16! That sounds more like a young man to me!” Mary chipped in and gave him an apologizing smile, well aware how Oliva could be.

“And you would be right.’’ Patrick lowered his fork and sadly had to admit it to himself, that Mary was more than right. ‘’He’s definitely not a little boy anymore.”

“Tim’s lovely, Mum.” Shelagh spoke up. There was no way she would let anyone from her family think or talk badly about Patrick’s son. “He’s bright, funny, ambitious. Just like his dad.” She looked at Patrick and smiled at him. If he only knew how honest she was being. He was all of those things and so much more.

“So, if he’s 16…how old are you exactly??” Olivia could not help herself, no matter that even her own husband started giving her a look, saying it might be the time to shut up.

“What exactly is your problem, Ollie?!” Shelagh lost her temper, but it was Doug who put a stop to the whole matter. ‘’Leave the poor lad alone, Oliva. At least during dinner.’’ He wasn’t going to say he was the biggest fan of his youngest’s new man, but there would not be any bickering during dinner, especially on Christmas Eve.

‘’But…’’

‘’Olivia.’’ Doug said her name so firmly, that even his grandchildren looked up from their plates, wondering what made their grandad raise his voice at their mother. ‘’Your mother made this food for you and your family, so…’’ As Olivia, David and the children were going to spend Christmas day with David’s family, Olivia had almost pleaded with her mother to do this for them. And there was no way Doug would let her disrespect her mother like this.

Not wanting to turn the whole evening into an awkward affair, Patrick placed down his cutlery, rested his forearms on the table, and looked directly at Olivia. ‘’I don’t really know what my age has anything to do with it, but I’m 45. And before you ask, yes, I know how to count, and I know there is a 10 years gap between myself and your sister. I’m not an idiot, in fact I’m completely and soundly aware that she could go and find someone better, younger for herself if she wanted to. She even might, when she finally realizes she deserves the best of everything. Because she does. And I’m far from it. But until then, I think you will need to wrap you head around the fact, that your baby sister is dating a middle-aged divorcee with a teen, who has been madly in love with her since the first day she’s started working at our school.’’ He said too much, he knew he did, but it was the truth. That 10 years gap was the only reason for not asking her on a date years ago.

With Patrick’s calm declaration the whole table went quiet. Even Shelagh had no idea what to say and kept staring at him, not quite believing what he had just said. But was he being serious or was everything just an act for her family? By the spark in his eyes, she wasn’t quite sure.

‘’Satisfied?’’ Mary proudly looked from Patrick to Olivia, who at the end just nodded her head, finally aware she should simply shut up and eat her dinner. This Patrick Turner was so much more than meets the eye.

‘’Good. Shelagh dear, would you mind passing the sausage rolls?’’ Mary said and with that, the dinner continued as nothing had happened.

**xXx**

‘’Seriously Olivia, what’s your problem?!?’’ Shelagh started nagging the moment she and her sister walked into the kitchen, carrying the dirty plates with them. Patrick had volunteered to help with the washing up, but Mary had insisted it was something her daughters had to do by themselves.

‘’What?’’ Olivia innocently replied.

‘’Stop that! You know exactly what I’m talking about!’’ Shelagh placed the dishes into the sink and turned to look at her older sister. ‘’Patrick is a good man, he did not deserve being threatening this way.’’

‘’Look, I…’’

‘’Shut up, Olivia!’’ Shelagh lost it for a second, surprising even herself with her reaction. ‘’We are going to do the dishes, and then you are going to march yourself out there and apologize to him, you hear me?!”

‘’Shelagh, I know abou-…’’ she tried again, but it was no use.

‘’Olivia! I did not come home for the holidays to argue with you! He might be older than me but I’m in love with him! And I don’t need you to like him, but I need you to show him the respect he deserves.’’ Shelagh insisted, but could feel the tears at the back of her eyes. She loved her sister, but sometimes she could be simply too much. And Patrick was too good for any of this, no matter they were only pretending to be together! And with the fiasco her sister had put him through during dinner, Shelagh was sure she had lost any of her chances to actually be with him anytime soon.

‘’You really do love him, hmm??’’ Was all that Olivia said, after a few moments of silence.

‘’I-I… I don’t kno-..yes, yes I do.’’ Shelagh finally came clean about her feelings towards her colleague and friend. He wasn’t there to hear her anyway.

‘’He’s not only pretending to be in love with you, you know? He feels exactly the same way you feel about him.’’

‘’W-What are you talking about?’’ It felt so surreal to even think Olivia could be right. And how in the world does she know that she and Patrick were only pretending to be together.

‘’You’ve heard me.’’ Olivia took a step closer to her, ‘’I don’t know what game you two are playing, but I see the way he looks at you, Shelagh. He is keen, more than keen, and I would take my chances with him if I were you.’’

‘’I don’t know what you are talking about, we’ve been together…’’

‘’Yeah, yeah, for months.’’ She smiled, ‘’I’m not Mum or Dad, Shelagh. I know you. You’d be bragging about the hot professor, weeks before anything would have actually happened between the two of you.’’

‘’I…’’ Shelagh tried to protest, no matter she knew her sister was right. She would brag about him like a teenage girl if they were together for real. There really wasn’t anything not to brag about him. Patrick Turner was a dream come true.

‘’Don’t worry, I’ll apologize to him, but only if you promise you’ll tell him how you really feel about him.’’

‘’Olivia, I can’t just…’’

‘’You can and you will, or I’ll tell him all about the summer of 2005.’’ Olivia bit her inner cheek, already aware she won the argument.

‘’You wouldn’t dare!’’ Shelagh gasped.

‘’Wouldn’t I?’’

**xXx**

‘’Where’s Patrick?’’ Shelagh worriedly asked, when she stepped out of the kitchen and into the hall. Everybody was getting ready to head to church, but he was nowhere to be found.

‘’He’s already outside.’’ Her brother in law replied while trying to pull a pink boot on his youngest’s foot.

‘’Go on dear, we should be with you in a couple of minutes, or an hour.’’ Mary chuckled, when she could see that not even her own husband was ready to leave the house.

Quickly pulling her winter coat on, Shelagh stepped outside into the cold night, but could not see him. At least his car was still there, she thought to herself, for a second getting worried that her family scared him away. Tucking her scarf tighter around her neck, she made her way down the path and finally spotted him sitting on the little bench across the street.

‘’Aren’t you full of surprises, Professor Turner. I didn’t know you smoked.’’ She playfully said, when she reached him and saw a light ciggy resting between his fingers.

‘’I have no idea of what you are talking about, Professor Mannion.’’ He chuckled and took a deep puff as she sat next to him. ‘’I feel as though I should offer you one.’’

‘’Just a puff.’’

‘’Of this??’’ he looked at her surprised.

‘’Quickly, just a wee one.’’ She reached out for it, brushing her hand against his, while checking the front door, making sure her dad was still indoors. He had caught her stealing a pack out of his desk when she had been 14 years old, and it had not ended well for her. ‘’Thank you.’’

‘’You’ve earned it.’’ He said and took the ciggy back.

‘’Oh, really? With what?’’

‘’With trying to protect me from your sister.’’ He chuckled and closed his lips around the cigarette, the exact same spot where her own lips had just been.

‘’About that…’’ Shelagh tried to apologize but he quickly stopped her. ‘’Shelagh, you don’t have to…’’

‘’But I do. I feel so bad about the way Olivia’s treated you. You could be at home, spending your Christmas in peace, without any family drama. But no, I’ve had to drag you all over the country directly into this mess. First my mum, then my dad and don’t even let me start on my sister. She could be such a…’’

‘’Would it bother you?’’ he suddenly interrupted her and looked directly into her eyes.

‘’What do you mean?’’ Shelagh frowned her eyebrows, not having a clue of what he was talking about.

‘’Me being older than you. You know, if we would be together for real.’’ He gently almost shyly explained.

‘’What? Of course not.’’ Shelagh scooted closer to him.

‘’Are you sure?’’ He needed to be completely certain, before he would try to do what he had been dying to do for so long.

‘’Of course, I’m sure. Patrick, what’s this all about?’’

‘’It’s about...’’ he stubbed out the cigarette on the hard surface of the bench, before he dared to take her cold hand in his, ‘’…can I be honest?’’ He chuckled, feeling silly for acting like a teenage boy asking a girl out for the very first time.

‘’Please.’’ Shelagh had no idea what was going through his mind right now. He was looking at her with his stupid brown eyes, and she knew him well enough to know he was about to say something important.

‘’The thing is…I like you,” Patrick blabbered.

‘’I like you too,’’ Shelagh innocently replied, with no idea what he was actually trying to tell her.

‘’No, Shelagh, I mean,  _ I like you _ …’’ he tried again ‘’…a lot.’’

He liked her! A lot! Shelagh’s mind was running wild as her brain tried to process the words he had just spoken. He liked her! A lot! HE LIKED HER! A LOT!!! A LOT!!!!!!!

‘’Shelagh?’’ he could not read her face and to be completely honest with himself, he was starting to get worried. The last thing he wanted was to make her feel uncomfortable, or even worse, ruin their friendship over his stupid little crush, which was like it or not, always more than just a crush.

‘’Are you being serious?’’ she finally opened her mouth, still not quite sure she heard him right.

‘’Yes.’’ He nodded, ‘’I like you. Maybe even more than just like you, if I’m being honest.’’

‘’I-I…’’ for the love of God, say something Shelagh! But she couldn’t. This was literally a dream come true and she had absolutely no idea what to do with herself. And he could see it.

So, he did the only thing that felt right to him. Cupping her cheek, he pulled her closer and was about to kiss her, when she suddenly stopped him by placing her palm on his chest. ‘’I thought you’ve promised my Dad no funny business.’’

‘’I’ve promised him, no funny business  _ under _ his roof.’’ Patrick chuckled, ‘’There was no talking about a bench across the street.’’

‘’Thank God for that,” she sweetly whispered and finally let him cover her lips with his, turning this Christmas into the first of many they were going to spend together…like a real couple.


	11. The nanny, part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 🧸

“No, no Jack! You can’t do this to me! We’ve promised me!’’ Shelagh raised her voice into her phone the moment she closed her flat door behind her. “My interview is in less than 30 minutes!!’’ She paced up and down the hall, not quite believing that her ex had once again managed to prove himself to be the worst person in the entire world! “No, I can’t take her with me!...What do you mean why not?!!”

She had no idea how she had managed to stay in a relationship with such an idiot for 5 long years before finally packing her things and leaving his sorry ass about 6 months ago. This time for good. “Were you always this stupid or did the last bimbo make you this way!?” She really could not believe what the man she had once thought she loved, suggested to her, “You can’t just leave a 2-year-old all by herself, Jack!! She is a human being not a fucking cat, for god’s sake!!” was the last thing she yelled back before ending the call.

“Shitface!” Shelagh cursed under her breath as she rested her back against the wall. Feeling hot tears gathering in her eyes, she forced herself to close them and take a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself down. After weeks of looking for any kind of job, she had finally managed to schedule an interview in the local pub. It wasn’t much, but with her savings running out, she needed the money! Needed some kind of stability for herself and her little girl. Especially after the year they had had.

“Fucking idiot!” she punched the hard surface behind her with her first, when the first tear could not be stopped from falling down her cheek. She was so mad!...but mostly scared! Scared of not doing enough! Scared for her little girl’s future, who was peacefully having her afternoon nap in her little room, with no idea what of a mess her mother was being right now.

“Is everything alright?” a deep voice pulled her back into reality and made her open her eyes in the next moment.

“Oh, god, Dr Turner! I’m so sorry!” she quickly said and brushed the falling tear away with her palm, embarrassed by the fact her upstairs neighbour found her in this state.

“What’s happened?” He climbed the last five stairs to reach her. The last thing he could imagine coming home from shopping, was finding the lovely Miss Mannion crying in the middle of the hall.

“Is it Angela?” he worriedly asked when she did not answer him. The two of them hadn't really interacted much since Shelagh had moved into the flat below his, with her young daughter four months ago. Not until he had knocked on her door in the middle of the night a little over a month ago. The night Angela could not stop crying from the pain caused by her teething, and he had offered to take a look at the little girl.

“No, no she’s fine, thank you.” she forced herself to smile. The last thing Shelagh wanted was to burden him with her problems. He’d wasted enough of his time on them already. “It’s nothing, really.” She tried to brush it off but it didn’t work.

“Well, I’m sorry if I’m being too blunt, but it doesn’t look like nothing.” He gently said and took a step closer to her. With her wearing only her slippers she looked almost tiny standing in front of him. “Here.” He let go of his shopping bag, pulled a handkerchief out of his inner pocket and offered it to her.

“Thank you.” She gave him a weak smile and took it without any fight. They did not know each other that well, but his kindness made her feel just a bit better about the whole thing.

‘’You can keep it,’’ he politely said. She wiped her face and pushed her glasses from her head back to her nose. ‘’Look, you don’t need to tell me what’s going on, but at least tell me if there is anything, I can do to make it better.’’

‘’It’s just…’’ she took a deep breath, still not sure if she should bother him with her mess of a life, but the look he was giving her, told her he really wanted to help. ‘’It’s Jack, my ex. I have a job. Well, an interview in like 20 minutes. He was supposed to come over and stay with Angela. But apparently him taking his new girlfriend to the cinema is more important than us being evicted in the next month, because I won’t be able to pay my rent.’’ She shook her head feeling like a complete fool for believing he was ever going to change. ‘’And I have no one to call who could babysit her.’’ Her voice started to break all of sudden. It was simply too much! With all her family and friends back in Scotland, she had absolutely no one to lean on! She was all alone! And no matter she always tried to be strong, enough was enough!

‘’Come here.’’ He opened his arms for her and Shelagh did not hesitate for one second  or debate if she should move away from him or simply let him hold her.

‘’I’m sorry,’’ she cried into his jacket. It felt so nice to feel another human’s warmth against her after all this time. She had countless cuddles with her little girl, but this was something completely different. 

‘’It’s okay.’’ His arms tightly held her and he simply let her cry out whatever she was feeling.

‘’I’m so sorry,’’ she said after a few moments of just letting herself be held by his strong arms.

‘’Better?’’ he warmly asked with his hands running up and down her back.

‘’Yes, thank you.’’ She slightly moved away and looked up. It was the first time she managed to have a better look at him, and to be completely honest he was quite handsome. A little older than she was, but his bright hazel eyes made him look a lot younger than he probably was. ‘’Oh, my god, your jacket.’’ She sniffed and tried to wipe her snot and tears from the material, ‘’I’m sorry!’’

‘’Don’t worry about it.’’ He laughed and placed his hand over hers, stopping her from what she was doing.

‘’But, I…’’

‘’Really, it’s okay. It’s just a jacket,’’ he honestly replied, not wanting to make her feel embarrassed.

‘’Thank you for this. I needed it,’’ she admitted, suddenly more than aware of the weight of his hand resting over hers.

‘’Go on, then.’’ He finally let go of her hand and saw he had confused her with his words.

‘’What?’’

‘’Your interview. Go.’’

‘’Wh-what are you talking about? I’ve told you, I have no one t-…’’

‘’I’ll stay with her.’’ He cut her off, catching her completely unprepared for what he was offering to do for her.

‘’I-I can’t ask you to…’’

‘’You’re not.’’

‘’But…’’

‘’Just go.’’ He reassured her, ‘’Look, I know you have no reason to trust me with your only child, but I promise you she’ll be fine. Here…’’ he pulled his business card out of his wallet and handed it to her, ‘’…you can call me anytime you want. We can even video chat so you can make sure she’s alright. Just go and get that job.’’

Taking the card from him, her eyes run over his name - Dr P. Turner, before looking back at him, ‘’This is all very sweet of you, but my bus left like 5 minutes ago and I wouldn’t make it time even if I ran there.’’

‘’Take this then.’’ His hand dug into his pocket and pulled a car key out of it.

‘’Dr Turner, I can’t…’’

‘’Can you drive?’’

‘’Yes, but…’’

‘’So, take it. It’s the black MG6 parked in front of the building.’’ He gave her the loveliest smile she had ever seen in her life. Quietly staring at him, she could not believe what he was saying to her. Except for that one night, he had helped with Angela, the two of them had not spoken much before or even after. He was a complete stranger to her. All she knew about him was he was a doctor and that he lived in the flat above hers.

Trusting men had never brought her any good, but there was something in his eyes that made her trust him. It was crazy, but she had seen the way he had been with Angela that night. He had even taken his time and come over to check on her in the following days after. ‘’My little girl means everything to me, Dr Turner. If anything would have happened to her I-…’’

‘’I promise you, she’ll be fine.’’ He once again calmly said, hoping she would trust him no matter how hard it might be.

‘’O-Okay.’’ Shelagh finally agreed and took the key from him. ‘’I promise I’ll be back in an hour.’’

‘’Just go.’’ He laughed as she walked into her flat to put her shoes on and grab her purse.

‘’She should be up in about 10 minutes.’’ She said out of breath when she came running out of her daughter's room, after checking on her and kissing her goodbye before leaving. ‘’Her food is in the fridge…’’ she started to say while writing her own phone number down on a  scrap of paper, ‘’…she might ask you to read her a story. She loves Beatrix Potter, but please make sure it’s Mrs Tiggy Winkle or Flopsy Bunnies, no Squirrel Nutkin. And…oh, god! Do you know how to change a nappy? We are in the middle of potty training, but she still has one when she sleeps and I…’’

‘’We’ll be fine, just go already.’’

‘’Okay, okay! Amm, thank you!’’ She leaned in and without even thinking placed a kiss on his cheek, ‘’Thank you!!’’ she once again said with a shaky voice, when she realized what she had done. But he didn’t seem to mind.

‘’Good luck!’’ was all he said back, and watched her run down the stairs before disappearing into her flat.

**Author's Note:**

> Beta: weshallc 😊😊 thank you!


End file.
